Abstract

Municipal wastewater treatment is tightly linked with the production of sludge. The excess sludge disposal becomes thus one of the major challenges for the next decade, in terms of social, environmental, economical issues. The project aims at preventing biomass formation rather than destroying already formed sludge, by the application of "stresses" in the water treatment train. Selected promising routes include direct or indirect limitation of biomass growth (uncoupling agents, application of stresses), enhancement of grazing by protozoa and use of anaerobic bacteria. Those researches will be supported by fundamental studies on bacterial metabolic response to stresses and population dynamics and shifts. Expected results are a better knowledge of the biological process and the availability of technico-economic data for the reduction of sludge production together with the maintenance of effluent quality standards.

Contacts

Coordinator

• Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Centre International de Recherche Sur L'eau et L'environneme / FRANCE

Participant

• Jules B. VAN LIER / Lettinga Associates Foundation (LEAF) NETHERLANDS
• Jean WEISSENBACH / Genoscope Centre National de Séquençage FRANCE
• Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees de Toulouse Laboratoire D'ingénierie Des Procédés de / FRANCE
• Cornelia BOREK / Technische Universitaet Berlin Institut Fuer Lebensmittelbiotechnologie / GERMANY
• Technische Universitaet Braunschweig Institute For Mechanical Process Engineering / GERMANY
• Universitat de Barcelona Departamento de Biologia Animal / SPAIN
• Claude BURLET / Universite Henri Poincare Nancy 1 Equipe de Microbiologie et Physique / FRANCE
• Michael BOWTELL / University of Cambridge UNITED KINGDOM