Hydrolysis of particulate organic matter from municipal wastewater under aerobic treatment

Hydrolysis of particulate organic matter is known to be a limiting step in biological wastewater treatment. In this work, we used an experimental set-up, which allowed the parallel observation of hydrolysis product formation on the one side and utilization on the other side. The hydrolysis products are characterized by using size exclusion chromatography with online carbon and UV (254 nm) detection. The used particles (size: 25-250 mu m) originated from municipal wastewater. Here, it is shown that the concentration of high molecular weight organic matter increases over the first three days. During this time, bacteria grow and produce the required enzymes to perform the further degradation. The oxygen utilization rate (OUR) on the other side continuously develops, confirming the presence of easily biodegradable organic matter. In parallel, the amount of bacteria and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) undergoes a certain dynamics, which was visualized by using confocal laser scanning images. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Hydrolysis of particulate organic matter is a limiting step in biological wastewater treatment. The concentration of high molecular weight organic matter increases over the first three days, while the oxygen utilization rate continuously develops, confirming the presence of easily biodegradable organic matter.