The Role of an Anaerobic Stage on Biological Phosphorus Removal

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Abstract
A detailed study was conducted on biological removal of phosphorus by an activated sludge process composed of an anaerobic stage followed by an aerobic stage in order to clarify the role of the anaerobic stage of the process. Two distinctive sludges, one contained approximately 10 percent phosphorus, most of which existed in the form of polyphosphates, and the other contained 1.9 percent phosphorus, were obtained by changing BOD concentration of influent and hydraulic detention time of the process. Although the polyphosphate-containing sludge released phosphorus in proportion to the absorbed BOD at anaerobic conditions, the sludge which did not contain polyphosphates also absorbed an equal amount of BOD at the identical rate without any external sources of oxygen. Both sludges accumulated identical levels of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate within the sludges as the BOD sources were absorbed. These results suggest that the polyphosphate-containing sludges have no advantage over the sludges with no polyphosphates when they uptake BOD in the anaerobic stage.

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