Treatment of anaerobically digested swine wastewater by Rhodobacter blasticus and Rhodobacter capsulatus

Two strains of photosynthetic bacteria, Rhodobacter blasticus and Rhodobacter capsulatus, were used in this work to investigate the feasibility of using photosynthetic bacteria for the treatment of anaerobically digested swine wastewater. The effects of crucial factors which influence the pollutants removal efficiency were also examined. Results showed that anaerobically digested swine wastewater could be treated effectively by photosynthetic bacteria. The treatment efficiency was significantly higher by the mixed photosynthetic bacteria than that by any unitary bacterium. The optimal treatment condition by mixed bacteria was inoculation of 10.0% (v/v) of the two bacteria by 1:1, initial pH of 7.0 and initial chemical oxygen demand of 4800 mg L−1. Under these conditions, the removal rate of chemical oxygen demand was 83.3%, which was 19.3% higher than when using Rhodobacter blasticus or 10.6% higher than when using Rhodobacter capsulatus separately. This mixed photosynthetic bacteria achieved high chemical oxygen demand removal and cell yields.