Occurrence and Roles of Comammox Bacteria in Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems:A Critical Review

Nitrogen removal is a critical process in water treatment plants(WIPs)and wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs).The recent discovery of a novel bacterial process,complete ammonia oxidation(comammox,CMX),has refuted a century-long perception of the two-step conversion of NH3to NO3-.Compared with canonical nitrifiers,CMX bacteria offer undeniable advantages,such as a high growth yield propensity and adaptability to nutrient-and growth-limiting conditions,which collectively draw attention to validate the aptness of CMX bacteria to wastewater treatment.As there has been no comprehensive review on the relevance of CMX bacteria for sustainable water and wastewater treatment,this review is intended to discuss the roles and applications of CMX in the removal of nitrogen and pollutants from water and wastewater.We took into account insights into the metabolic versatilities of CMX bacteria at the clade and subclade levels.We focused on the distribution of CMX bacteria in engineered systems,niche differentiation,co-occurrence and interactions with cano nical nitrifiers for a better understanding of CMX bacteria in terms of their ecophysiology.Conceptualized details on the reactor adaptability and stress response of CMX bacteria are provided.The potential of CMX bacteria to degrade micropollutants either directly or co-metabolically was evaluated,and these insights would be an indispensable advantage in opening the doors for wider applications of CMX bacteria in WWTPs.Finally,we summarized future directions of research that are imperative in improving the understanding of CMX biology.

Aerobic granules cultivated and operated in continuous-flow bioreactor under particle-size selective pressure

A novel method based on the selective pressure of particle size （particle-size cultivation method, PSCM） was developed for the cultivation and operation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor, and compared with the conventional method based on the selective pressure of settling velocity （settling-velocity cultivation method, SVCM）. Results indicated that aerobic granules could be cultivated in continuous operation mode by this developed method within 14 days. Although in the granulation process, under particle-size selective pressure, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） in the reactor fluctuated greatly and filamentous bacteria dominated the sludge system during the initial operation days, no obvious difference in profile was found between the aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM and SVCM. Moreover, aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM presented larger diameter, lower water content and higher specific rates of nitrification, denitrifieation and phosphorus removal, but lower settling velocity. Under long term operation of more than 30 days, aerobic granules in the continuous-flow reactor could remain stable and obtain good chemical oxygen demand （COD）, NH4^＋-N, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） removal. The results indicate that PSCM was dependent on the cultivation and maintenance of the stability of aerobic granules in continuous-flow bioreactors.