Bioaugmentation for treating transient or continuous p-nitrophenol shock loads in an aerobic sequencing batch reactor

► Specialized bacteria dosage is an important parameter for bioaugmentation process. ► Small dosages of PNP-degrading bacteria can result in successful bioaugmentation. ► Survival of specialized bacteria is the key to a successful bioaugmentation. ► Partial washout of specialized bacteria was confirmed through FISH quantification. ► Use of same co-substrate to enrich specialized bacteria is critical for the process.