Microscopic Investigation of Filamentous Microorganisms in Activated Sludge Process for Sewage Treatment

Abstract: Hammarby Sjöstadsverk is a pilot plant operated by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) which treats municipal wastewater. Different processes are used of which one is a Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) with activated sludge process. The activated sludge process is an effective biological municipal wastewater treatment process. Foaming and floating sludge is a significant problem for municipal wastewater treatment plants globally, that appears from time to time and a full understanding of the process causing this phenomenon is still not available. The problem can have multiple causes such as imbalance of microorganisms, nutrients, toxicity, pH, DO, temperature, denitrification, nitrification etc. The scope of this thesis project is to find out which microorganism’s cause foaming and bulking and how to control it. For this investigation, the Hammarby Sjöstadsverk pilot wastewater treatment plant in Stockholm was utilized. The laboratory facilities at KTH were used during thesis work. Laboratory methods were used to cultivate and isolate filamentous organisms from foam, sludge and inlet wastewater samples to investigate by microscopy and see which microorganisms exist in the activated sludge process were performed. General cultivation media for bacteria and fungi were used for culturing microorganisms. Isolation of some filamentous forms was based on colony morphology on an agar plate and microscopy. Microscopic observation of foam and isolates were performed, comparing cell morphology with literature studies. The sludge showed very few types of protozoa. The isolated and cultivated samples were fungi, yeast-like fungi and bacteria. The organisms are most likely the reason for foaming and bulking. Other reasons were also investigated by comparing retrieved data from IVL with literature studies; the process levels such as pH, DO, temperature and nutrients proved to be low or varying. The reason to why fungi and yeast-like microorganisms habitate in the basin depend on a low pH level average of 6.7. A method for effective settling is to withstand a cutting-pump to the container. This was tested during this project and resulted in increased levels of floating sludge during a period of time. Hence this is not a recommended treatment solution. Suggested treatment methods for further studies are to introduce protozoa to treat foaming and bulking, or by raising the pH and DO. This has not been covered within this project.