Extraction and quantification of polyphosphates in activated sludge from waste water treatment plants by P NMR spectroscopy.

Polyphosphate (poly-P) is a major constituent in activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants with enhanced biological phosphorus removal due to poly-P synthesis by poly-P accumulating organisms where it plays an important role for recovery of phosphorus from waste water. Our aim was to develop a reliable protocol for poly-P quantification by P NMR spectroscopy. This has so far been complicated by the risks of inefficient extraction and poly-P hydrolysis in the extracts.