Performance of Treating Surfactant-Containing Wastewater by Using Algal–Bacterial Granular Sludge

Abstract

Surfactants have been widely used in various fields in recent years, but subsequent treatment of their wastewater has always been a problem that needs to be solved. As a new sewage treatment method, algal–bacterial aerobic granule sludge (algal–bacterial AGS) is considered to be one of the potential methods for treating this kind of wastewater. This study investigated the efficiency of using algal–bacterial AGS to treat wastewater containing surfactants and compared it with bacterial AGS. The results indicated that when confronting a high-concentration surfactant, algal–bacterial AGS could keep a relatively high nutrient removal capacity (about 90% dissolved organic carbon, 99% ammonia nitrogen, 52% total phosphorus) and improved the adaptability to sudden changes in high-concentration surfactant environments compared with bacterial AGS. These results illustrated that algal–bacterial AGS is a potential method to process wastewater containing surfactants with superior treatment efficiency and adaption response.