A Pilot Study on Performance of a Membrane Bio‐Reactor in Treating Fresh Water Sewage and Saline Sewage in Hong Kong

Abstract

The results of two pilot studies of an immersed membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating fresh water and saline sewage in Hong Kong are presented. The objectives were to demonstrate suitability of the MBR technology to the treatment of Hong Kong sewage and its ability to achieve total nitrogen removal effectively. When operated in nitrification/denitrification mode, the MBR was able to achieve 98% BOD removal, 90–93% COD removal and 82–84% total nitrogen removal with a HRT of 6.8 hours and 300% internal flow recirculation. Very low effluent NH₄ ⁺‐N levels were observed throughout the study suggesting complete nitrification. The MBR was able to achieve full denitrification utilizing organic matter in the raw sewage as a carbon source. The nitrogen removal capacity of the MBR was limited by nitrogen loadings rather than the biological activity in the reactor. The results did not indicate any significant differences in treatment performances with fresh water and saline sewage except that a higher frequency of membrane cleaning was required for the latter.     

Modeling biological nutrient removal in a liquid–solid circulating fluidized bed bioreactor

BACKGROUND: Both laboratory‐scale and pilot‐scale liquid–solid circulating fluidized bed (LSCFB) bioreactors have demonstrated excellent biological nutrient removal (BNR) from municipal wastewater. In this study, a model for the LSCFB for biological nutrient removal has been developed, calibrated, and validated using pilot‐scale experimental results. RESULTS: An efficient reactor arrangement predicted anoxic–anaerobic and aerobic biofilm thicknesses of 150–400 and 70–175 µm in the riser and downer, respectively. Furthermore, distribution of chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH₄‐N, NO_X‐N, and dissolved oxygen in the biofilm, as well as nutrients removed in the aerobic and anoxic zones, reflect nitrification, denitrification and enhanced biological phosphorus removal in the LSCFB. The model predicted both anoxic effluent and final effluent COD, SCOD, SBOD, NH₄‐N, NO₃‐N, TKN, TN, PO₄‐P, and TP were within the 95% confidence intervals of the experimental data. Model‐predicted simultaneous nitrification/denitrification occurring in the aerobic downer. CONCLUSION: This model developed for LSCFB using the AQUIFAS biofilm diffusion model successfully evaluated the process performance. It is an efficient tool for further research, design, and optimization of the fixed film bioreactor. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification with electricity generation in dual‐cathode microbial fuel cells

BACKGROUND: Nitrogen removal using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is of great interest owing to the potential benefits of bioenergy production. In this study, simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in dual‐cathode MFCs was investigated. RESULTS: The dual‐cathode MFCs investigated were capable of generating electricity and removing nitrogen, influenced by operating methods, nitrogen loading rates and external resistance. Depending on the ammonium concentration in the anode chamber, 84–97% of the ammonium nitrogen was removed via nitrification in the aerobic cathode. The removals of nitrate and total nitrogen were relatively low (～50%) at the influent ammonium concentration of 80 mg NH₄⁺‐N L^?1, but were significantly improved to more than 90% at a lower ammonium input (40 and 20 mg NH₄⁺‐N L^?1). When the electrode couples were electrically connected for different purposes, with high power output from the anode/aerobic cathode and high current generation from the anode/anoxic cathode, nitrogen removal was also improved. An investigation of aeration suggested that factors other than carbon supply, possibly inefficient reactor configuration, also limited the performance of the developed MFC. CONCLUSION: The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed pathway was feasible with effective nitrogen and organic removal. This study provided valuable information for the further development of a continuously operated dual‐cathode MFC system. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Biochemical removal of nitrogen from tannery wastewater: performance and stability of a full‐scale plant

This paper describes the performance of a full‐scale common effluent plant treating tannery wastewater, based on a single‐sludge nitrification/denitrification process, with the objective of investigating the reasons for its instability. The plant was monitored over a 1.5‐year period; operational parameters were evaluated daily and their impact on process rates assessed together with the characteristics of the wastewater sampled at different points in the treatment scheme. The results showed that instability problems and a periodic failure of nitrification/denitrification occurred due to a series of reasons, often persisting simultaneously and having an additive synergetic effect. Factors whose magnitude would be insufficient to affect the performance of a plant treating domestic wastewater, eg; small deviations from the optimal pH in nitrification or denitrification basins, a temperature decrease to 17 °C or an increase of the influent nitrogen content, caused the plant's efficiency to drop from 100% to 40% in some periods. To ensure stable performance, the dilution rate, D, along with the sludge retention time were shown to be key parameters for the control of the process. Maintaining values of D considerably lower than critical theoretical values calculated from the specific growth rate of nitrifiers at a given temperature and sludge recycle ratio may prevent problems in the plant's performance, particularly when high fluctuations of the concentration of inflow solids make calculation of the sludge age uncertain and proper sludge management difficult. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Comparison of a sMBR and a CASP system for wastewater reclamation and re-use

The performance of a submerged membrane bioreactor (sMBR) for municipal wastewater reclamation and re-use was compared with that of a current classic activated sludge process (CASP). The average chemical oxygen demand (COD) of CASP effluent was 75 mg/l, while the average COD of sMBR filtrate was 15 mg/l. In general, COD removal was above 98%. However, the best results were obtained at a sludge rentention time (SRT) of 50 days. The total phosphorus (TP) content of the filtrate decreased to a level <1 mg/l under aerobic conditions in which aeration occurred continuously. It was shown that the filtrate TP and orthoposphate (Orto-P) concentrations increased dramatically during the periods of intermittent aeration because phosphorus is released under anoxic conditions. In the CASP effluent, the average TP and Orto-P were 7.9 mg/l and 7.1 mg/l, respectively. The filtrate was free of suspended solids (SS) and total coliform bacteria. The effluent SS in the CASP was 40 mg/l. The turbidity removal in the sMBR reached almost 99%, i.e. generally less than 1 NTU, while the average turbidity of the CASP effluent was almost 15 NTU. The removal of ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) in the sMBR was almost 99.8%. In addition, the nitrate concentration in the filtrate decreased to 2.4 mg/l under both aerobic & anoxic conditions. It was shown that both nitrification and denitrification could be successfully reduced through intermittent aeration. Average total Kjeldehl nitrogen (TKN) and NH₄⁺-N in the CASP effluent were 30.2 mg/l and 20 mg/l, respectively, i.e. the nitrification efficiency was 42.9%, and the denitrification value was not available. When these results are compared with those in the CASP, it indicated that the sMBR could be successfully used for reclamation and re-use of municipal wastewater.     

Simultaneous removal of organic substances and nitrogen using amembrane bioreactor seeded with anaerobic granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions

An innovative process, the oxygen-limited membrane bioreactor seeded with anaerobic granular sludge, wasproposed and its performance investigated for concurrent removal of organic substances and nitrogen from synthetic domestic wastewaters. An air diffuser was installed just above the granular sludge bed to supply air to the reactor at an intermittent mode. The internal recycle from the upper part of the reactor to the bottom was introduced to provide the granular sludge bed under the oxygen-limited conditions. The oxygen addition rates were controlled at 3-4 g O₂ 1⁻¹d⁻¹. The total COD removal efficiency of more than 94% was achieved throughout the whole operation period. N was removed through the simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process that took place in the granular sludge bed. TN levels decreased with the decrease of ammonium levels, indicating that nitrification was the rate-limiting step. The TN removal efficiency reached 80-91% at an hydraulic retention time of 15 h. Nitrate was scarcely detected and nitrite was the main NO_x-N species in the effluent, indicating that nitrite oxidizers were inhibited in the system.     

Start‐up and enrichment of a granular anammox SBR to treat high nitrogen load wastewaters

BACKGROUND: Landfill leachate is characterized by low biodegradable organic matter that presents difficulties for the complete biological nitrogen removal usually performed by conventional biological nitrification/denitrification processes. To achieve this, the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process is a promising biological treatment. This paper presents an anammox start‐up and enrichment methodology for treating high nitrogen load wastewaters using sequencing batch reactor (SBR) technology. RESULTS: The methodology is based on the gradual increase of the nitrite‐to‐ammonium molar ratio in the influent (from 0.76 to 1.32 mole NO₂^?‐N mole^?1NH₄⁺‐N) and on the exponential increase of the nitrogen loading rate (NLR, from 0.01 to 1.60 kg N m^?3 d^?1). 60 days after start‐up, anammox organisms were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique as Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans. After one year of operation, NLR had reached a value of 1.60 kg N m^?3 d^?1 with a nitrogen (ammonium plus nitrite) removal efficiency of 99.7%. The anammox biomass activity was verified by nitrogen mass balances with 1.32 ± 0.05 mole of nitrite removed per mole of ammonium removed and 0.23 ± 0.05 mole of nitrate produced per mole of ammonium removed. Also, enrichment of anammox bacteria was quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis as 85.0 ± 1.8%. CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides a methodology for the enrichment of the anammox biomass in a SBR to treat high nitrogen loaded wastewaters. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Evaluation of an Integrated System for Pig Slurry Treatment

A system for pig slurry treatment, where anaerobic digestion, nitrification and denitrification have been integrated in a unique process treatment, has been investigated. This configuration allowed both removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and a decrease in nitrogen content. Strategies are reported to bring enough COD to the denitrification system. Results (90% reduction in COD, 99·8% reduction in NH₄⁺-N and 98·8% reduction in NO₃⁻N) show this process could be considered a good alternative to treat these wastes. © 1997 SCI.     

Partial nitrification of sludge reject water using suspended and granular biomass

BACKGROUND: Partial nitrification–Anammox is a combined promising advanced biological process for the removal of nitrogen from wastewater, which allows important savings in energy consumption, sludge production, and organic carbon. Granular biomass appears to be an interesting alternative to conventional activated sludge, mainly because of its better settling properties. This study deals with the experimental results of a comparison between a conventional and a granular sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for the partial nitrification of reject water. RESULTS: After some days of operation, 30 days in the conventional SBR (system A) and 100 days in the granular SBR (system B), partial nitrification was achieved. Granular sludge showed much better settling properties than suspended biomass, with values of sludge volumetric index (SVI₁₀) of 130 mL g^?1 in system A and 38 mL g^?1 in system B. Consequently, the solids concentration within the granular reactor was three times higher than for the conventional system while the concentration of solids in the effluent was 10 times higher in the conventional SBR. Morphology, microstructure and microbial populations in both systems were also studied. CONCLUSION: A partial nitrification process was successfully achieved in both systems, obtaining an effluent with a NO₂^?‐N/NH₄⁺‐N ratio near 1, suitable for a following Anammox process. Granular biomass, mostly formed by round particles, showed better settling properties, leading to better sludge–effluent separation as well as higher biomass retention in the reactor. The granulation process does not affect bacterial populations, since they were the same in both systems. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

水解反硝化工艺强化脱氮处理

碳源对脱氮除磷都具有重要的作用,碳源不足会导致脱氮效果降低,出水TN水质不达标。为解决碳源不足造成的脱氮能力差的问题,本试验采用水解反硝化脱氮工艺,将水解酸化与反硝化脱氮过程相结合,取代缺氧反硝化,有效地解决了碳源不足所导致的脱氮效果差的问题。利用水解反硝化脱氮工艺处理城市污水,出水NH₄⁺-N、TN和COD都满足一级A标准,去除率分别为98.0%、69.4%和82.7%,比同期污水处理厂AAO工艺的TN去除率高出17.5%。在BOD₅/TN为3～5的条件下,水解池中污泥的比反硝化速率为缺氧池污泥的1.2～1.7倍,并且去除相同的N所需要的碳源较少,在碳氮比为3:1、3.5:1、4:1和5:1时去除单位N水解池可分别节省59.5%、52.2%、19.9%和23.1%的COD,有效地解决了脱氮过程中碳源不足问题。     

Treatment of coking wastewater by a UBF‐BAF combined process

BACKGROUND: Coking wastewater is a major pollutant, produced in large quantities in many countries worldwide. This study investigates the performance of a combined system for treating coking wastewater. The system is based on an upflow blanket filter (UBF) with a biological aerated filter (BAF). Efficiency is assessed according to organic pollutants and nitrogen removal. RESULTS: It was found that hydraulic retention time (HRT) had a greater influence on the removal efficiency of NH₃‐N than chemical oxygen demand (COD). The BAF facilitated simultaneous carbonaceous removal and nitrification, depending on the reactor height. The system removed 81.5% of COD and 96.4% of NH₃‐N when the total HRT was 46.7 h (15.4 h for UBF and 31.3 h for BAF). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis indicated that the main components of the coking wastewater were phenols and nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds. Certain refractory compounds decomposed in the anaerobic section, resulting in the production of intermediates. Although most organics present in the influent were absent from the final effluent, a few residual contaminants could not be fully eliminated by the system. CONCLUSION: The experimental results show that the present system is feasible for the treatment of coking wastewater. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of Operational Variables on Nitrogen Removal Performances and Its Control in a Pre‐Denitrification Plant

The aim of this work is to study the effects of six operational variables, i.e., dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate recirculation flow, sludge recycle flow, sludge wastage flow, external carbon dosage, and anoxic volume fraction, on the performance of nitrogen removal and its control in a pre‐denitrification plant. The results obtained show that the six operational variables have a significant influence on nitrogen removal in such a system, while the utilization of the control strategies can improve the situation to a significant extent. The control of DO concentration should be correlated with the influent ammonia load, the effluent requirement and nitrification type. The anoxic effluent nitrate concentration should be controlled at ca. 2 mg/L or the ORP value at the end of the anoxic zone should be controlled at ca. –90 mV. The control of the sludge recycling flow by online monitoring of the sludge blanket height (SBH), is an alternative to the conventional control of the constant sludge recycle flow. It may be possible to achieve the automatic control of sludge wastage flow by online measuring of the ammonia concentration and the nitrification capacity of the sludge. The recirculation of nitrate and external carbon dosage should be simultaneously controlled to optimize nitrogen removal. The anoxic volume fraction should also be optimized, to ensure a good balance between nitrification and denitrification.     

Removal of nitrogen from wastewater for reusing to boiler feed-water by an anaerobic/aerobic/membrane bioreactor

The innovative process anaerobic/aerobic/membrane bioreactor (A/O/MBR) was developed to enhance pre-denitrification without the energy consumption of the recirculation pump for reusing wastewater to boiler feed-water. The performance of this bioreactor was investigated. Firstly, the septic tank wastewater with low ratio of COD/TN was disposed by a dynamic membrane bioreactor (DMBR). It was found that, although the high concentration of NO₂⁻–N in the effluent implied the potential ability of DMBR to realize shortcut nitrification and denitrification, the effluent of single DMBR was difficult to reach the criteria of reusing to boiler feed-water. Then, the process A/O/DMBR in disposing the septic tank wastewater was studied. The results indicated that this process not only accomplished the removal of 91.5% COD, 90.3% NH₄⁺–N and 60.2% TN, but also successfully realized pre-denitrification without additional recirculation pump. At last, based on the A/O/DMBR, a pilot plant A/O/MBR was built to dispose the municipal raw sewage. In the stable operation period, the average removal efficiencies for COD, NH₄⁺–N, TP and turbidity reached 90%, 95%, 70% and 99%, respectively. During the tested HRT run of 9.0 h, the effluent of COD, NH₄⁺–N, TP and turbidity was about 10 mg/L, 3 mg/L, below 1 mg/L and 1.2 NTU, respectively, which reached the criteria of the boiler feed-water in China.     

Application of the Stover–Kincannon kinetic model to nitrogen removal by Chlorella vulgaris in a continuously operated immobilized photobioreactor system

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ammonium nitrogen removal performance of algae culture Chlorella vulgaris in a novel immobilized photobioreactor system under different operating conditions and to determine the biokinetic coefficients using the Stover–Kincannon model. RESULTS: The photobioreactor was continuously operated at different initial ammonium nitrogen concentrations (NH₄‐N₀ = 10–48 mg L⁻¹), hydraulic retention times (HRT = 1.7–5.5 days) and nitrogen/phosphorus ratios (N/P = 4/1–13/1). Effluent NH₄‐N concentrations varied between 2.1 ± 0.5 mg L⁻¹ and 26 ± 1.2 mg L⁻¹ with increasing initial NH₄‐N concentrations from 10 ± 0.6 mg L⁻¹ to 48 ± 1.8 mg L⁻¹ at θ_H = 2.7 days. The maximum removal efficiency was obtained as 79 ± 4.5% at 10 mg L⁻¹ NH₄‐N concentration. Operating the system for longer HRT improved the effluent quality, and the percentage removal increased from 35 ± 2.4% to 93 ± 0.2% for 20 mg L⁻¹ initial NH₄‐N concentration. The N/P ratio had a substantial effect on removal and the optimum ratio was determined as N/P = 8/1. Saturation value constant, and maximum substrate utilization rate constant of the Stover–Kincannon model for ammonium nitrogen removal by C. vulgaris were determined as K_B = 10.3 mg L⁻¹ d⁻¹, U_max = 13.0 mg L⁻¹ day⁻¹, respectively. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that the algae‐immobilized photobioreactor system had an effective nitrogen removal capacity when the operating conditions were optimized. The optimal conditions for the immobilized photobioreactor system used in this study can be summarized as HRT = 5.5 days, N/P = 8 and NH₄‐N₀ = 20 mg L⁻¹ initial nitrogen concentration to obtain removal efficiency greater than 90%. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

A/O摇动床石化废水生物脱氮

摇动床反应器是由日本NET株式会社研发的一种新型的附着生长污水处理工艺,本文将A/O法应用到摇动床反应器中,研究了A/O摇动床对石化废水的生物脱氮效果,考察了硝化液回流比和进水负荷对脱氮效果的影响.实验结果表明,A/O摇动床对石化废水具有较好的脱氮效果,在进水COD浓度、NH⁺₄-N浓度、硝化液回流比和水力停留时间分别为400～600 mg&#8226;L^-1、20～40 mg&#8226;L^-1、2.5和26.1 h时,出水COD、NH⁺₄-N和TN浓度小于40 mg&#8226;L^-1、1.0 mg&#8226;L^-1、7.0 mg&#8226;L^-1,COD去除率、硝化率和反硝化率分别达到90%、95%和70%.     

Modelling a sequencing batch reactor to treat the supernatant from anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste

In this study, a lab‐scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) has been tested to remove chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH₄⁺‐N from the supernatant of anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. This supernatant was characterized by a high ammonium concentration (1.1 g NH₄⁺‐N L^?1) and an important content of slowly biodegradable and/or recalcitrant COD (4.8 g total COD L^?1). Optimum SBR operating sequence was reached when working with 3 cycles per day, 30 °C, SRT 12 days and HRT 3 days. During the time sequence, two aerobic/anoxic steps were performed to avoid alkalinity restrictions. Oxygen supply and working pH range were controlled to promote the nitrification over nitrite. Under steady state conditions, COD and nitrogen removal efficiencies of more than 65% and 98%, respectively, were achieved. A closed intermittent‐flow respirometer was used to characterize and model the SBR performance. The activated sludge model ASM1 was modified to describe the biological nitrogen removal over nitrite, including the inhibition of nitrification by unionized ammonia and nitrous acid concentrations, the pH dependency of both autotrophic and heterotrophic biomass, pH calculation and the oxygen supply and stripping of CO₂ and NH₃. Once calibrated by respirometry, the proposed model showed very good agreement between experimental and simulated data. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

N-SBR单元硝化时间分配比对A2N2系统运行性能的影响

以低C/N实际生活污水为处理对象,重点考察了N-SBR单元硝化时间分配比对A₂N₂系统运行性能的影响。在A²/O-SBR单元厌氧1.5 h,缺氧2 h,好氧0.5 h,A²/O-SBR和N-SBR单元的曝气量分别恒定在100、120 L·h^-1的条件下,将硝化时间分配比分别设定为5：1、4：1、3.5：1、3：1、7：1、8：1进行试验。结果表明,系统在A²/O-SBR单元可实现碳源的高效利用,有机物的去除受硝化时间分配比影响不大;为保证系统良好的硝化和反硝化除磷性能,一次硝化时间必须≥3.5 h;在总曝气时间一定的条件下,适当增加一次硝化时间,更有利于提高系统TN去除率;适当增加二次硝化时间,可以降低出水浓度,使出水达标排放。当硝化时间分配比为4：1时,系统脱氮除磷效果最好。TN、PO₄^3--P平均出水浓度分别为11.5、0 mg·L^-1,平均去除率分别为75%、100%。     

Simultaneous high-strength organic and nitrogen removal with combined anaerobic upflow bed filter and aerobic membrane bioreactor

Biological treatment of high-strength nitrogen wastewater by a combined anaerobic (upflow sludge bed filter, UBF)/aerobic (membrane bioreactor, MBR) system has been studied. This system exhibited high performance on the removal of organic matter and nitrogen simultaneously. Organic and nitrogen concentrations increased from 6,000 to 14,500 mg/L and 300 to 1,000 mg/L, respectively. At the internal recycle ratio of Q (Q is the influent flow rate), average removal efficiencies of organic and total nitrogen were found to be 99 and 46%, respectively with the relatively short HRT of 24 h. When operated with the insufficient alkalinity supply, the organic removal efficiency in anaerobic reactor reduced from 98 to 82%. At high influent ammonia concentration, ammonification which is the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to NH₄⁺ was observed. In case of membrane fouling, transmembrane pressure (TMP) of the combined process was about 9 times higher than that of a unit MBR under same operation conditions. The reason of severe fouling in the combined system might be caused by increased extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and hydrophobicity. EPS composition and SUVA were more sensitive parameters than surface charge and total EPS content, with respect to the change of internal recycle ratio 100–300%.     

高氨氮垃圾渗滤液SBR法短程深度生物脱氮

以实际垃圾填埋场渗滤液为研究对象,应用SBR系统对该类废水短程生物脱氮的可行性进行研究,重点考察了短程生物脱氮实现、稳定及系统的脱氮性能.结果表明,经过95天的运行,SBR系统成功实现并维持了稳定短程生物脱氮,平均亚硝积累率在92.5%以上.获得了稳定的脱氮性能,NH4+-N,TN平均去除率分别在97.2%和91.7%以上.DO、ORP和pH曲线的特征点能够准确判断硝化和反硝化终点,可作为SBR处理垃圾渗滤液短程生物脱氮过程的控制参数.相对于氨氧化菌,亚硝酸盐氧化菌对FA、FNA更敏感,因此两者协同作用抑制亚硝酸盐氧化菌活性,再辅以过程控制,能够准确判断硝化终点,实现NOB从系统硝化菌群中逐渐被淘洗,AOB成为优势菌种的目标,这是系统长期维持稳定短程生物脱氮的决定因素,FISH检测结果证明了这一点.     

Performance and microbial population variation in a plug‐flow A2O process treating domestic wastewater with low C/N ratio

BACKGROUND: In this study, a plug‐flow A²O (anaerobic/anoxic/oxic) reactor, with a working volume of 52.5 L, was employed to investigate the performance of biological nutrients removal and microbial population variations when treating low C/N ratio domestic wastewater. RESULTS: Results showed that TN removal was significantly affected by the shortage of carbon source while phosphorus removal was only slightly affected. The effluent soluble orthophosphate‐phosphorus (SOP) concentration was lower than 0.50 mg L^?1 but the TN concentration was over 20 mg L^?1 when the C/N ratio was 4.43. There was denitrifying phosphorus removal in the anoxic reactor and this was enhanced by increasing the volume ratio of anoxic reactor and maintaining appropriate mixed liquor recycle rate. More than 60% of the SOP were removed in anoxic reactors by denitrifying phosphorus removal when the volume ratio of anaerobic/anoxic/oxic was 1/1.4/1.6 and the mixed liquor recycle rate was 250%. The TN concentration of effluent decreased to 11.34 mg L^?1 and SOP concentration was still lower than 0.5 mg L^?1 in this condition. The main microorganisms found in the process by polymerase chain reaction‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR‐DGGE) and the functional biodiversity are discussed. CONCLUSION: Traditional design and operating parameters of A²O are not appropriate for treating low C/N wastewater. Enhancing the denitrifying phosphorus removal ratio in an A²O process is an effective way to increase the removal rate of N and P from low C/N wastewater. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry