ABSTRACT
Glyphosate N-phosphono-methyl glycine is the active ingredient of the herbicide Roundup manufactured by Monsanto Agriculture Company. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide effluent guidelines require glyphosate removal from waste streams before they are discharged. Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBRs) were used to study the biodegradation of glyphosate in wastes generated at Monsanto's manufacturing facilities. The chapter describes the details of the laboratory scale SBRs and the development of the operating strategies for glyphosate degrading activity (GDA). Special batch studies were conducted to provide information on GDA by varying feed conditions to include the presence or absence of additional carbon and ammonia. The chapter presents a batch study that was conducted over a five month period and was directed at defining the relationship between nitrification and GDA, and to monitor the treatability of the centrifuge spent wash (CSW) at higher loadings.
