High-performing antifouling bacterial consortium for submerged membrane bioreactor treating synthetic wastewater

Biofouling, associated with membranes, is considered as a major operational challenge in membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. Interrupting the process for the formation of biofilm by the action of interspecies quorum quenching (QQ) has received a significant attention since recent years. An antifouling bacterial consortium was identified to improve biofouling inhibition performance during MBR operation. For this purpose, various QQ bacteria were isolated from laboratory-scale MBR using enrichment culture method and identified via 16S rRNA. Potential quenching strains including Enterobacter cloaca, Delftia sp., and Pseudomonas sp. were utilized to control biofouling in the MBR operated in the continuous mode for 38 days. Three laboratory-scale MBRs, including two MBRs with different anti fouling consortium and a control, were operated in parallel under similar operating conditions. Biofouling control by QQ bacteria was compared based on the membrane permeability and EPS secretion from biofilm on the membrane. Both MBRs with antifouling consortium (AC-MBRs) experienced around three times less biofouling as compared to conventional MBR leading to significant decrease in acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) concentration in the biocake. More than 90, 45, and 49% of COD, NH4-N, and PO43--P removal efficiencies elucidate that QQ bacterial consortium could effectively reduce membrane biofouling without compromising the MBR efficiency. Comparatively lower concentration of bound EPS in AC-MBRs restricted the bacterial adhesion to membrane resulting in enhanced membrane permeability depicting that a broader range of signal molecules could be hydrolyzed using antifouling consortium than single or no QQ strain in the submerged MBR.