Effects of the chlorination on organic matter removal and microbial communities during soil aquifer treatment for wastewater reclamation

Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) has been widely applied for wastewater reclamation, which cooperates secondary treatment (i.e. A(2)O process) and disinfection treatment (chlorination) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), to remove organic matter. This study compared dissolved organic carbon (DOC) characteristics, substrate utilisation patterns, and microbial communities between pre-chlorination SAT and SAT columns, and effective removals of DOC were observed in the pre-chlorination SAT and SAT columns. However, the composition of HiA in SAT columns without chlorination was less than in pre-chlorination SAT columns for DOC fraction. In comparison to A(2)O effluent, different metabolic patterns and the composition of the microbial community were demonstrated by the top layer of SAT column and pre-chlorination SAT column. Furthermore, deeper layers showed similarities in the metabolic pattern and composition of the microbial community. Overall, pre-chlorination minimised the change of the microbial communities from A(2)O effluent in the top layer of SAT except for deeper layers, and DOC concentrations decreased in pre-chlorination SAT column. Thus, the cooperation of SAT and wastewater treatments could be suitable for wastewater reclamation.

Automated summary

This study compared dissolved organic carbon (DOC) characteristics, substrate utilisation patterns, and microbial communities between pre-chlorination SAT and SAT columns, and observed effective removals of DOC. However, the composition of HiA in SAT columns without chlorination was less than in pre-chlorination SAT columns. Different metabolic patterns and the composition of the microbial community were demonstrated by the top layer of SAT column and pre-chlorination SAT column in comparison to A(2)O effluent. Furthermore, deeper layers showed similarities in the metabolic pattern and composition of the microbial community.