Taxonomic and functional variations in the microbial community during the upgrade process of a full-scale landfill leachate treatment plant – from conventional to partial nitrification-denitrification

Highlights

• Upgrade process was investigated in a full-scale landfill leachate treatment plant.

• The optimization of DO can technically achieve the shift from CND to PND process.

• Nitrosomonas was mainly responsible for ammonium oxidation in PND system.

• An obviously enrichment of Thauera was found in the PND process.

• Enhanced metabolic potentials on organics was found during the process update.

Abstract

Because of the low access to biodegradable organic substances used for denitrification, the partial nitrification-denitrification process has been considered as a low-cost, sustainable alternative for landfill leachate treatment. In this study, the process upgrade from conventional to partial nitrification-denitrification was comprehensively investigated in a full-scale landfill leachate treatment plant (LLTP). The partial nitrification-denitrification system was successfully achieved through the optimizing dissolved oxygen and the external carbon source, with effluent nitrogen concentrations lower than 150 mg/L. Moreover, the upgrading process facilitated the enrichment of Nitrosomonas (abundance increased from 0.4% to 3.3%), which was also evidenced by increased abundance of amoA/B/C genes carried by Nitrosomonas. Although Nitrospira (accounting for 0.1%–0.6%) was found to stably exist in the reactor tank, considerable nitrite accumulation occurred in the reactor (reaching 98.8 mg/L), indicating high-efficiency of the partial nitrification process. Moreover, the abundance of Thauera, the dominant denitrifying bacteria responsible for nitrite reduction, gradually increased from 0.60% to 5.52% during the upgrade process. This process caused great changes in the microbial community, inducing continuous succession of heterotrophic bacteria accompanied by enhanced metabolic potentials toward organic substances. The results obtained in this study advanced our understanding of the operation of a partial nitrification-denitrification system and provided a technical case for the upgrade of currently existing full-scale LLTPs.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Landfill leachate / Process upgrade / Partial nitrification-denitrification / Bacterial community / Metagenomics

References

[1] Boonyaroj V, Chiemchaisri C, Chiemchaisri W, Yamamoto K (2017). Enhanced biodegradation of phenolic compounds in landfill leachate by enriched nitrifying membrane bioreactor sludge. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 323: 311–318

[2] Chung J, Kim S, Baek S, Lee N H, Park S, Lee J, Lee H, Bae W (2015). Acceleration of aged-landfill stabilization by combining partial nitrification and leachate recirculation: A field-scale study. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 285: 436–444

[3] Fitzgerald C M, Camejo P, Oshlag J Z, Noguera D R (2015). Ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities in reactors with efficient nitrification at low-dissolved oxygen. Water Research, 70: 38–51

[4] Ge S, Peng Y, Qiu S, Zhu A, Ren N (2014). Complete nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater via partial nitrification by appropriately alternating anoxic/aerobic conditions in a continuous plug-flow step feed process. Water Research, 55: 95–105

[5] Ge S, Wang S, Yang X, Qiu S, Li B, Peng Y (2015). Detection of nitrifiers and evaluation of partial nitrification for wastewater treatment: A review. Chemosphere, 140: 85–98

[6] Guan Y, Zhou J, Fu X, Zhao Y, Luo A, Xu J, Fu J, Zhao D (2018). Effects of long-lasting nitrogen and organic shock loadings on an engineered biofilter treating matured landfill leachate. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 360: 536–543

[7] Hou J, Xia L, Ma T, Zhang Y, Zhou Y, He X (2017). Achieving short-cut nitrification and denitrification in modified intermittently aerated constructed wetland. Bioresource Technology, 232: 10–17

[8] Huang S, Zhu Y, Lian J, Liu Z, Zhang L, Tian S (2019). Enhancement in the partial nitrification of wastewater sludge via low-intensity ultrasound: Effects on rapid start-up and temperature resilience. Bioresource Technology, 294: 122196

[9] Iskander S M, Zhao R, Pathak A, Gupta A, Pruden A, Novak J T, He Z (2018). A review of landfill leachate induced ultraviolet quenching substances: Sources, characteristics, and treatment. Water Research, 145: 297–311

[10] Jiang H, Liu G H, Ma Y, Xu X, Chen J, Yang Y, Liu X, Wang H (2018). A pilot-scale study on start-up and stable operation of mainstream partial nitrification-anammox biofilter process based on online pH-DO linkage control. Chemical Engineering Journal, 350: 1035–1042

[11] Ju F, Lau F, Zhang T (2017). Linking microbial community, environmental variables, and methanogenesis in anaerobic biogas digesters of chemically enhanced primary treatment sludge. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(7): 3982–3992

[12] Ju F, Zhang T (2015). Bacterial assembly and temporal dynamics in activated sludge of a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant. ISME Journal, 9(3): 683–695

[13] Lackner S, Gilbert E M, Vlaeminck S E, Joss A, Horn H, Van Loosdrecht M C M (2014). Full-scale partial nitritation/anammox experiences: An application survey. Water Research, 55: 292–303

[14] Li X, Sun S, Yuan H, Badgley B D, He Z (2017). Mainstream upflow nitritation-anammox system with hybrid anaerobic pretreatment: Long-term performance and microbial community dynamics. Water Research, 125: 298–308

[15] Li Z, Kechen X, Yongzhen P (2018). Composition characterization and transformation mechanism of refractory dissolved organic matter from an ANAMMOX reactor fed with mature landfill leachate. Bioresource Technology, 250: 413–421

[16] Liu J, Tian Z, Zhang P, Qiu G, Wu Y, Zhang H, Xu R, Fang W, Ye J, Song Y, Zeng G (2018a). Influence of reflux ratio on two-stage anoxic/oxic with MBR for leachate treatment: Performance and microbial community structure. Bioresource Technology, 256: 69–76

[17] Liu J, Zhang P, Li H, Tian Y, Wang S, Song Y, Zeng G, Sun C, Tian Z (2018b). Denitrification of landfill leachate under different hydraulic retention time in a two-stage anoxic/oxic combined membrane bioreactor process: Performances and bacterial community. Bioresource Technology, 250: 110–116

[18] Liu T, Mao Y J, Shi Y P, Quan X (2017). Start-up and bacterial community compositions of partial nitrification in moving bed biofilm reactor. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 101(6): 2563–2574

[19] Lu H, Chandran K, Stensel D (2014). Microbial ecology of denitrification in biological wastewater treatment. Water Research, 64: 237–254

[20] Luo X, Shen L, Meng F (2019). Response of microbial community structures and functions of nitrosifying consortia to biorefractory humic substances. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7(5): 4744–4754

[21] Miao L, Yang G, Tao T, Peng Y (2019). Recent advances in nitrogen removal from landfill leachate using biological treatments: A review. Journal of Environmental Management, 235: 178–185

[22] Mohammad-pajooh E, Weichgrebe D, Cuff G (2017). Municipal landfill leachate characteristics and feasibility of retrofitting existing treatment systems with deammonification: A full scale survey. Journal of Environmental Management, 187: 354–364

[23] Rice E W, Baird R B, Eaton A D, Clesceri L S (2012). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. American Public Health Association Washington, DC

[24] Saunders A M, Albertsen M, Vollertsen J, Nielsen P H (2016). The activated sludge ecosystem contains a core community of abundant organisms. ISME Journal, 10(1): 11–20

[25] Show P L, Pal P, Leong H Y, Juan J C, Ling T C (2019). A review on the advanced leachate treatment technologies and their performance comparison: an opportunity to keep the environment safe. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(4): 227

[26] Shu D, Guo J, Zhang B, He Y, Wei G (2019). rDNA- and rRNA-derived communities present divergent assemblage patterns and functional traits throughout full-scale landfill leachate treatment process trains. Science of the Total Environment, 646: 1069–1079

[27] Tripathy B K, Kumar M (2019). Sequential coagulation/flocculation and microwave-persulfate processes for landfill leachate treatment: Assessment of bio-toxicity, effect of pretreatment and cost-analysis. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 85: 18–29

[28] Yang Y, Pan J, Zhou Z, Wu J, Liu Y, Lin J G, Hong Y, Li X, Li M, Gu J D (2019). Complex microbial nitrogen-cycling networks in three distinct anammox-inoculated wastewater treatment systems. Water Research, 168: 115142

[29] Ye Z L, Xie X, Dai L, Wang Z, Wu W, Zhao F, Xie X, Huang S, Liu M, Chen S (2014). Full-scale blending treatment of fresh MSWI leachate with municipal wastewater in a wastewater treatment plant. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.), 34(11): 2305–2311

[30] Yu Y, Li M, Dai X, Meng F, Qi X, Hou J, Ye M, Xi B (2019). In situ mature leachate treatment with hydroxylamine addition in the Aerobic-Anaerobic Recirculation Landfill. Science of the Total Environment, 696: 134084

[31] Yuan Z, He C, Shi Q, Xu C, Li Z, Wang C, Zhao H, Ni J (2017). Molecular insights into the transformation of dissolved organic matter in landfill leachate concentrate during biodegradation and coagulation processes using ESI FT-ICR MS. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(14): 8110–8118

[32] Zhang F, Peng Y, Wang S, Wang Z, Jiang H (2019a). Efficient step-feed partial nitrification, simultaneous Anammox and denitrification (SPNAD) equipped with real-time control parameters treating raw mature landfill leachate. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 364: 163–172

[33] Zhang F, Peng Y, Wang Z, Jiang H (2019b). High-efficient nitrogen removal from mature landfill leachate and waste activated sludge (WAS) reduction via partial nitrification and integrated fermentation-denitritation process (PNIFD). Water Research, 160: 394–404

[34] Zhang J, Xiao K, Huang X (2020). Full-scale MBR applications for leachate treatment in China: Practical, technical, and economic features. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 389: 122138

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFE0114300), Special Fund for Science and Technology Innovation Strategy of Guangdong Province (No. 2018B020202), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2018A030310246), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21607177, 51622813 and 51808564) for financially supporting this study.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1272-7 and is accessible for authorized users.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2020 Higher Education Press