Performance of denitrifying phosphorus removal of Acinetobacteria strain at low temperature

• A novel denitrifying phosphorus removal bacterium was isolated from activated sludge.
• The phosphorus uptake activity of Acinetobacteria strain under electron acceptor and temperature were studied.
• The Acinetobacteria strain was used for bioaugmentation of wastewater treatment to enhance phosphorus removal efficiency.

In order to investigate the possibility of Acinetobacteria strain to realize denitrifying phosphorus removal, batch tests were carried out to study the phosphorus uptake activity under different nitrate and nitrite concentrations. Results showed that the phosphorus uptake ability of Acinetobacteria strain was enhanced with the increase of nitrate concentration, in the range of 0–100 mg/L. Similar trend was detected with nitrite as elector acceptor in the range of 0–20 mg/L, and 40 mg/L of nitrite could inhibit the phosphorus uptake of Acinetobacteria strain. Denitrifying phosphorus removal process at low temperature (15°C) showed that phosphorus uptake amount was over 30 mg/L with Acinetobacteria strain addition under anaerobic/anoxic condition by using 25 mg/L of nitrate as elector acceptor.