Bioaugmentation of activated sludge with elemental sulfur producing strain Thiopseudomonas denitrificans X2 against nitrate shock load

The sulfide and nitrogen compounds in wastewaters are toxic and cause a serious environmental problem. Thiopseudomonas denitrificans X2, which is the type species of a novel genus Thiopseudomonas was used for bioaugmentation. It oxidized sulfide and acetate with nitrate, and generated elemental sulfur that could be recovered as resource. The generation rate of elemental sulfur was enhanced significantly by the bioaugmentation under the condition of excessive nitrate feeding. The inoculums survived and worked actively in the activated sludge system as the dominant population. Thiopseudomonas denitrificans X2 could be applied to wastewater treatment and resource recovery simultaneously.