Common stresses affecting activated sludge health and performance--what the four-assay set can tell us.

Previously, we developed a novel biological early warning (BEW) system for directly monitoring the health and performance of activated sludge, the "four-assay set". In the present work, the four-assay set has been used to measure the effects of four common stresses on activated sludge biomass: high temperature; pH; anoxia; and starvation. The results demonstrate both the utility of the Paprican four-assay set as a biomass-evaluating and BEW tool, and the tolerances of a typical kraft mill activated sludge for these four stresses.