Enhancing treatment efficiency of swine wastewater by effluent recirculation in vertical-flow constructed wetland

Livestock wastewater has been a major contributor to Chinese cultural eutrophication of surface waters. Constructed wetlands are under study as a best management practice to treat wastewater from dairy and swine operations, but the removal efficiency of pollutants is relatively low. Enhancing the treatment efficiency of livestock wastewater by effluent recirculation was investigated in a pilot-scale vertical-flow constructed wetland. The wetland system was composed of downflow and upflow stages, on which narrow-leaf Phragmites communis and common reed Phragraites Typhia are planted, respectively; each stage has a dimension of 4 m^2 （2 m × 2 m）. Wastewater from facultative pond was fed into the system intermittently at a flow rate of 0.4 m^3/d. Recirculation rates of 0, 25%, 50%, 100% and 150% were adopted to evaluate the effect of the recirculation rate on pollutants removal. It shows that with effluent recirculation the average removal efficiencies of NH4-N, biological oxygen demand （BOD5） and suspended solids（SS） obviously increase to 61.7%, 81.3%, and 77.1%, respectively, in comparison with the values of 35.6%, 50.2%, and 49.3% without effluent recirculation. But the improvement of TP removal is slight, only from 42.3% to 48.9%. The variations of NH4-N, dissolved oxygen（DO） and oxidation-reduction potential（ORP） of inflow and outflow reveal that the adoption of effluent recirculation is benefi- cial to the formation of oxide environment in wetland. The exponential relationships with excellent correlation coefficients （R2 〉0.93） are found between the removal rates of NH4-N and BOD5 and the recirculation rates. With recirculation the pH value of the outflow decreases as the alkalinity is consumed by gradually enhanced nitrification process. When recirculation rate is kept constant 100%, the ambient temperature appears to affect NH4-N removal, but does not have significant influence on BOD5 removal.

Genome-resolved metagenomic analysis reveals different functional potentials of multiple Candidatus Brocadia species in a full-scale swine wastewater treatment system

The increasing application of anammox processes suggests their enormous potential for nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment facilities.However,the functional potentials and ecological differentiation of cooccurring anammox species in complex ecosystems have not been well elucidated.Herein,by utilizing functional reconstruction and comparative genome analysis,we deciphered the cooccurring mechanisms of four Candidatus Brocadia species that were spontaneously enriched in a full-scale swine wastewater treatment system.Phylogenetic analysis indicated that species SW172 and SW745 were closely related to Ca.Brocadia caroliniensis and Ca.Brocadia sapporoensis,respectively,whereas the dominant species SW510 and SW773,with a total average abundance of 34.1%,were classified as novel species of the genus Ca.Brocadia.Functional reconstruction revealed that the novel species SW510 can encode both cytochrome cd1-type nitrite reductase and hydroxylamine oxidase for nitrite reduction.In contrast,the detected respiratory pentaheme cytochrome c nitrite reductase and acetate kinase genes suggested that SW773 likely reduced nitrite to ammonium with acetate as a carbon source.Intriguingly,the presence of genes encoding urease and cyanase indicated that both novel species can use diverse organic nitrogen compounds in addition to ammonia and nitrite as substrates.Taken together,the recovery and comparative analysis of these anammox genomes expand our understanding of the functional differentiation and cooccurrence of the genus Ca.Brocadia in wastewater treatment systems.

Simultaneous determination of three classes of antibiotics in the suspended solids of swine wastewater by ultrasonic extraction,solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

This work describes a systematic approach to the development of a method for simultaneous determination of three classes of veterinary antibiotics in the suspended solids （SS） of swine wastewater, including five sulfonamides, three tetracyclines and one macrolide （tiamulin）. The entire procedures for sample pretreatment, ultrasonic extraction （USE）, solid-phase extraction （SPE）, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry （LC-MS） quantification were examined and optimized. The recovery efficiencies were found to be 76%-104% for sulfonamides, 81%-112% for tetracyclines, and 51%--64% for tiamulin at three spiking levels. The intra-day and inter-day precisions, as expressed by the relative standard deviation （RSD）, were below 17%. The method detection limits （MDLs） were between 0.14 and 7.14 μg/kg, depending on a specific antibiotic studied. The developed method was applied to field samples collected from three concentrated swine feeding plants located in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong province of China. All the investigated antibiotics were detected in both SS and liquid phase of swine wastewater, with partition coefficients （logKd） ranging from 0.49 to 2.30. This study demonstrates that the SS can not be ignored when determining the concentrations of antibiotics in swine wastewater.

Sorption behavior of tetracyclines on suspended organic matters originating from swine wastewater

Tetracyclines（TCs） discharged from livestock wastewater have aroused public concerns due to their pharmacological threats to ecosystems and human health. As an important medium in the wastewater, suspended organic matters（SOMs） play vital roles in antibiotics transport and degradation. However, limited information has been reported in the relevant literature. This study investigated TCs sorption behavior on SOM, withdrawn from swine wastewater. High TCs sorption capacities were detected, with the maximum values ranging from 0.337 to 0.679 mg/g. Increasing p H and temperature led to the decline of sorption capacity. Results from three-dimensional excitation–emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry revealed that amide and carboxyl groups were the main functional groups for TCs adsorption. The interactions between SOM and TCs were clarified as predominated by hydrogen-bonding and cation-exchange in acid conditions, and electrostatic repulsion in neutral or alkaline conditions. Adsorption kinetics modeling was conducted, and a satisfactory fitting was achieved with the Freundlich equation. These results indicated that the adsorption process was a rather complex process, involving a combination of cation-exchange and hydrogen-bonding. The results will provide a better understanding of the capability of SOM for TCs transport and abatement in the wastewater treatment process.

Adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine in an activated sludge process treating swine wastewater

Swine wastewater is an important pollution source of antibiotics entering the aquatic environment. In this work,the adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine（SMN）,a commonlyused sulfonamide antibiotic,on activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor treating swine wastewater was investigated. The results show that the adsorption of SMN on activated sludge was an initially rapid process and reached equilibrium after 6 hr. The removal efficiency of SMN from the water phase increased with an increasing concentration of mixed liquor suspended solids,while the adsorbed concentration of SMN decreased. Solution pH influenced both the speciation of SMN and the surface properties of activated sludge,thus significantly impacting the adsorption process. A linear partition model could give a good fit for the equilibrium concentrations of SMN at the test temperatures（i.e.,10,20 and 30°C）. The partition coefficient（Kd） was determined to be 100.5 L/kg at 20°C,indicating a quite high adsorption capacity for SMN. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that SMN adsorption on activated sludge was an exothermic process. This study could help to clarify the fate and behavior of sulfonamide antibiotics in the activated sludge process and assess consequent environmental risks arising from sludge disposal as well.

New concept of contaminant removal from swine wastewater by a biological treatment process

Pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations(CAFOs)are the most serious pollution source in China now,and swine wastewater contains high concentrations of nutrients such as chemical oxygen demand(COD),biochemical oxygen demand 5(BOD 5),ammonium,and emergent contaminants related to public health.Biological processes are the most popular treatment methods for COD and ammonium removal.Considering the low operation cost,easy maintenance and high removal rate of contaminants in recent years,nitrogen removal via nitrite and real-time control processes using oxidation-reduction potential(ORP)and/or pH as parameters to control the aerobic and anaerobic cycles of a system has received much attention for animal wastewater treatment.During the biological treatment process,the emergent contaminants such as estrogen,antibiotics,and disinfec-tion reagents have been the focus of research recently,and degradation bacteria and resistance bacteria have also been extracted from activated sludge.The microbial analysis technique is also advancement in the field of biodegrada-tion bacteria and resistance bacteria.All of these advance-ments in research serve to improve wastewater treatment and decrease environmental hazards,especially for using manure as a fertilizer source for crop production.

Occurrence of veterinary antibiotics in struvite recovery from swine wastewater by using a fluidized bed

Recovering phosphorus from livestock wastewater has gained extensive attention. The residue of veterinary antibiotics in the wastewater may be present in the recovered products, thereby posing pharmacological threats to the agricultural planting and human health. This study investigated antibiotic occurrence in the struvite particles recovered from swine wastewater by using a fluidized bed. Results revealed that tetracyclines possessed significant residues in the struvite granules, with the values ranging from 195.2μg.kg^-1 to 1995.0 μg.kg^-1. As for fluoroquinolones, their concentrations varied from 0.4μg·kg^-1 to 1104.0 μg·kg^-1. Struvite particles were of various sizes and. shapes and displayed different antibiotic adsorption capacities. The data also showed that the smaller granules contained much more antibiotics than the larger ones, indicating that the fluidized granulation process of struvite crystals plays an important role on the accumulation of antibiotics. For tetracyclines, organic matters and struvite adsorption exerted significant impacts on tetracyclines migration. The outcomes underscore the need to consider the residues of antibiotics in resource recovery from wastewater because they exert pharmacological impacts on the utilization of recovered products.

Design,application and verification of a novel system utilizing bacteria and microalgae to treat swine farm wastewater and produce value-added biomass

Swine farm wastewater is extremely harmful to the environment if not treated before it is discharged.In this study,a system was developed and optimized for testing the high levels of organic matter in swine farm wastewater utilizing a microalgae/bacteria co-culture combined with a novel closed-loop extraction and dilution process.Importantly,the system produces biomass that also could be harvested and used in value-added applications.The efficacy of biomass as a biofertilizer was demonstrated by using a model plant of Arabidopsis.In addition,the analysis of biomass indicates that it also has potential as a source for biofuel.After a 20-d cultivation period,a yield of biomass was achieved to 2.063 g/L of wastewater.The highest removal rates recorded in steady state conditions were:13.8 mg/L·d of Total Nitrogen(TN);11.5 mg/L·d of Ammonia Nitrogen(NH_(4)^(+)-N);24.8 mg/L·d of Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD);and 16.9 mg/L·d of Total Phosphorus(TP).After cultivation,the composition of the biomass was analyzed on a dry basis;the major components were protein(44.9%),lipids(24.6%),carbohydrates(19.9%),Chlorophyll-A(2.75%),Chlorophyll-B(1.66%),and carotenoids(0.57%).This biomass was diluted with water(5%by weight)and used as a biofertilizer to grow Arabidopsis.The results showed that the average root and stem lengths of Arabidopsis were 43.0%and 55.0%longer compared to those of the control group.Additionally,the number of leaves and the maximum leaf length increased by 30.2%and 39.7%;and the fresh and dry leaf weights increased by 44.0%and 33.7%,respectively.These results demonstrate the efficacy of this system for treating swine farm wastewater whilst simultaneously producing a value-added microalgae/bacteria biomass.This paper also demonstrated the use of biomass as a fertilizer for cultivating a value-added crop and,based on the compositional analyses,propose that the biomass could be used as a raw material for biofuel production due to its high lipid content of 24.6%.By constructing a microalgae/bacteria symbiosis system,Swine farm wastewater can be treated as resources utilizing producing value-added biomass with demonstrated efficacy as a biofertilizer.