ABSTRACT
Different kinds of bugs remove different amounts of phosphorus. One difference between these bugs is their ability to live with or without ox ygen. Aerobic bugs need oxygen. That oxygen can be in the form of dissolved oxygen or chemically combined oxygen, like nitrate (NOs). Strict anaerobes are bugs that live strictly without oxygen. They cannot function if there is any dissolved oxygen or nitrate around. Then there is a third group. This group can live with or without oxygen. This third group of bugs are called facultative. The facultative bugs have one way of living when there’s oxygen and another way when there isn’t. The majority of the bugs in a standard treatment process tend to be the aerobic bugs. However, research has shown that the facultative bugs can remove about three times as much phosphorus than the aerobic bugs can. If we can grow more facultative bugs and less aerobes in the activated sludge, we should remove a lot more phosphorus.
