The Effect of Bioaugmentation Strategy on the SBR Performance Treating Reject Water and Municipal Wastewater Under Various Temperature Conditions

In this study, the effect of bioaugmentation on the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) performance while treating municipal wastewater and reject water under various temperature conditions was examined. Two lab-scale SBRs, each with the active volume of 8 L were used to perform this research. For bioaugmentation, a mixture of wildliving Bacteria and Archaea in a dose 0.25 mL was added to SBR A, while SBR B was a control one. Both reactors were fed with a mixture of wastewater and 13% v/v reject water. During the experiment, 5 phases with different temperature range were distinguished, each one lasted 14 d. The temperatures were investigated in 5°C increments, i.e. 20, 25, 30, 25 and 20°C. The obtained results indicated that in the bioaugmented reactor (SBR A), lower concentrations of NH4+–N, TSS, NO2-–N in effluent were observed as compared to control (SBR B). While for NH4+–N, regardless the temperature, the observed differences were statistically significant. Importantly, in both SBRs, the process was carried out in a stable way.