AI Article Synopsis

  • - This study explores the complexity of microbial communities in self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) systems, which are designed to effectively remove nutrients and pollutants from wastewater using advanced microbiome analysis through Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS).
  • - The research focuses on a novel aerobic, electrochemically enhanced, encapsulated bioreactor, patented as living membrane® (LM), and compares the microbial communities present with those in similar systems lacking an electric field.
  • - Findings reveal that the presence of an intermittent electric field in the electrochemically enhanced living membrane bioreactor (e-LMBR) supports the growth of electroactive microorganisms, improving wastewater treatment efficiency and reducing membrane fouling compared to standard systems.

Article Abstract

This study delves into the microbial community complexity and its role in self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) systems, designed to remove nutrients and pollutants from wastewater, by means of the analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data. In these systems, microorganisms are naturally incorporated into the SFDM layer, which acts as a biological and physical filter. The microorganisms present in an innovative and highly efficient aerobic, electrochemically enhanced, encapsulated SFDM bioreactor were studied to elucidate the nature of the dominant microbial communities present in sludge and in encapsulated SFDM, patented as living membrane® (LM) of the experimental setup. The results were compared to those obtained from the microbial communities found in similar experimental reactors without an applied electric field. The data gathered from the NGS microbiome profiling showed that the microbial consortia found in the experimental systems are comprised of archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities. However, the distribution of the microbial communities found in e-LMBR and LMBR had significant differences. The results showed that the presence of an intermittently applied electric field in e-LMBR promotes the growth of some types of microorganisms (mainly electroactive microorganisms) responsible for the highly efficient treatment of the wastewater and for the mitigation of the membrane fouling found for those bioreactors.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163965DOI Listing

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