Two parallel membrane bioreactors (2m³ each) were operated over a period of 2 years. Both pilots were optimised for nitrification, denitrification, and enhanced biological phosphorous elimination, treating identical municipal waste water under comparable operating conditions. The only constructional difference between the pilots was the position of the denitrification zone (pre-denitrification in pilot 1 and post-denitrification in pilot 2). Despite identical modules and conditions, the two MBRs showed different permeabilities and fouling rates. The differences were not related to the denitrification scheme. In order to find an explanation for the different membrane performances, a one-year investigation was initiated and the membrane performance as well as the operating regime and characteristics of the activated sludge were closely studied. MLSS concentrations, solid retention time, loading rates, and filtration flux were found not to be responsible for the different performance of the submerged modules. These parameters were kept identical in the two pilot plants. Instead, the non-settable fraction of the sludges (soluble and colloidal material, i.e. polysaccharides, proteins and organic colloids) was found to impact fouling and to cause the difference in membrane performance between the two MBR. This fraction was analysed by spectrophotometric and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) methods. In a second step, the origin of these substances was investigated. The results point to microbiologically produced substances such as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) or soluble microbial product.

Bank filtration and artificial recharge provide an important drinking water source to the city of Berlin. Due to the practice of water recycling through a semi-closed urban water cycle, the introduction of effluent organic matter (EfOM) and persistent trace organic pollutants in the drinking water is of potential concern. In the work reported herein, the research objectives are to study the removal of bulk and trace organics at bank filtration and artificial recharge sites and to assess important factors of influence for the Berlin area. The monthly analytical program is comprised of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance (UVA254), liquid chromatography with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), differentiated adsorbable organic halogens (AOX) and single organic compound analysis of a few model compounds. More than 1 year of monitoring was conducted on observation wells located along the flowpaths of the infiltrating water at two field sites that have different characteristics regarding redox conditions, travel time, and travel distance. Two transects are highlighted: one associated with a bank filtration site dominated by anoxic/anaerobic conditions with a travel time of up to 4–5 months, and another with an artificial recharge site dominated by aerobic conditions with a travel time of up to 50 days. It was found that redox conditions and travel time significantly influence the DOC degradation kinetics and the efficiency of AOX and trace compound removal.

Artificial recharge of groundwater is often used to either purify partially treated wastewater or to enhance the quality of surface water by percolation through a variably saturated zone. In many cases, the most substantial purification process within the infiltration water is the redox-dependent biodegradation of organic substances. The present study was aimed at understanding the spatial and temporal distribution of the redox reactions that develop below an artificial recharge pond near Lake Tegel, Germany. At this site, like at many artificial recharge sites, the hydraulic regime immediately below the pond is characterised by cyclic changes between saturated and unsaturated conditions. These changes, which occur during each operational cycle, result from the repeated formation of a clogging layer at the pond bottom. Regular hydrogeochemical analyses of groundwater and seepage water in combination with continuous hydraulic measurements indicate that NO3 - and Mn-reducing conditions dominate beneath the pond as long as water-saturated conditions prevail. Manganese-, Fe- and SO24 -reducing conditions are confined to a narrow zone directly below the clogging layer and in zones of lower hydraulic conductivity. The formation of the clogging layer leads to a steady decrease of the infiltration rate, which ultimatively causes a shift to unsaturated conditions below the clogging layer. Atmospheric O2 then starts to penetrate from the pond fringes into this region, leading to: (i) the re-oxidation of the previously formed sulphide minerals and (ii) the enhanced mineralisation of sedimentary particulate organic C. The mineralisation of sedimentary particulate organic C leads to an increased H2CO3 production and subsequent dissolution of calcite.

This study investigates a post-denitrification process without the addition of an external carbon source combined with an enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR). Three trial plants, with two different process configurations, were operated on two different sites, and a variety of accompanying batch tests were conducted. It was shown that even without dosing of an external carbon source, denitrification rates (DNR) much above endogenous rates could be obtained in post-denitrification systems. Furthermore, the anaerobic reactor located a head of the process had a positive impact on the DNR. Given these surprising results, the project team decided to identify the carbon source used by the microorganisms in the postdenitrification process. Batch tests could demonstrate that lysis products do not play a major role as a C-source for postdenitrification. The following hypothesis was proposed to explain the observations: the glycogen, internally stored by the substrate accumulating bacteria, if anaerobic conditions are followed by aerobic conditions could act as carbon source for denitrification in post-denitrification system. First exploratory batch tests, where the glycogen evolution was monitored, corroborate this

Managed aquifer recharge is an increasingly popular technique to secure and enhance water supplies. Among a range of recharging techniques, single-well aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is becoming a common option to either augment drinking water supplies or facilitate reuse of reclaimed water. For the present study a conceptual biogeochemical model for reclaimed water ASR was developed and incorporated into an existing reactive multicomponent transport model. The conceptual and numerical model for carbon cycling includes various forms of organic and inorganic carbon and several reactive processes that transfer carbon within and across different phases. The major geochemical processes considered in the model were microbially mediated redox reactions, driven by the mineralization of organic carbon, mineral dissolution/ precipitation, and ion exchange. The numerical model was tested and applied for the analysis of observed data collected during an ASR field experiment at Bolivar, South Australia. The model simulation of this experiment provides a consistent interpretation of the observed hydrochemical changes. The results suggest that during the storage phase, dynamic changes in bacterial mass have a significant influence on the local geochemistry in the vicinity of the injection/extraction well. Farther away from the injection/extraction well, breakthrough of cations is shown to be strongly affected by exchange reactions and, in the case of calcium, by calcite dissolution.

Two configurations of membrane bioreactors were identified to achieve enhanced biological phosphorus and nitrogen removal, and assessed over more than two years with two parallel pilot plants of 2m³ each. Both configurations included an anaerobic zone a head of the biological reactor, and differed by the position of the anoxic zone: standard pre-denitrification, or postdenitrification without dosing of carbon source. Both configurations achieved improved phosphorus removal. The goal of 50mgP/L in the effluent could be consistently achieved with two types of municipal waste water, the second site requiring a low dose of ferric salt ferric salt < 3mgFe/L. The full potential of biological phosphorus removal could be demonstrated during phosphate spiking trials, where up to 1mg of phosphorus was biologically eliminated for 10mg BOD5 in the influent. The postdenitrification configuration enabled a very good elimination of nitrogen. Daily nitrate concentration a slow as 1mg N/L could be monitored in the effluent in some periods. The denitrification rates, greater than those expected for endogenous denitrification, could be accounted for by the use of the glycogene pool, internally stored by the denitrifying microorganisms in the anaerobic zone. Pharmaceuticals residues and steroids were regularly monitored on the two parallel MBR pilot plants during the length of the trials, and compared with the performance of the Berlin-Ruhleben WWTP. Although some compounds such as carbamazepine were persistent through all the systems, most of the compounds could be better removed by the MBR plants. The influence of temperature, sludge age and compound concentration could be shown, as well as the significance of biological mechanisms in the removal of trace organic compounds.

Three single-filament isolates of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae from two German lakes were found to produce remarkable amounts of the cyanobacterial epatotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN). CYN-synthesis of the strains were evidenced both by LC-MS/MS analysis and detection of PCR products of gene fragments which are implicated in the biosynthesis of the toxin. The strains contain CYN in the range of 2.3–6.6 mg gK1 of cellular dry weight. To our knowledge this is the first report of CYN in A. flos-aquae.