Activity Monitoring for Nitrifying Bacteria by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization and Respirometry

The activities of two families of nitrifying bacteria weremeasured by applied respirometer and fluorescence insitu hybridization (FISH) for the purpose of monitoring nitrogenremoval. Oxygen uptake rates (OUR) for Nitrosomonas andNitrobacter were separately measured with the dosing ofselective inhibitors during respirometric monitoring. The FISHmethod was applied to analyze microorganism communities. In 5mg NH4+-N/L solution, the total nitrogen oxygendemand (NOD) was found to be 6,672 mg DO/L-day with ammoniaand nitrite oxidation rate of 4,512 and 2,160 mg DO/L-day,respectively. The oxygen consumption by endogenous oxidationwas 288 mg DO/L-day and the biological oxygen demand 936 mgDO/L-day. Respirometric measurements were well matched by theFISH result, which described the presence and quantity of eachnitrifying bacteria as nitrification proceeded. It was foundthat when coupled with OUR data, FISH could provide valuableinformation about the nitrogen removal process in manypractical wastewater treatment systems.