Lodos aerobios granulares para el tratamiento simultáneo de aguas residuales domésticas en Costa Rica

Costa Rica needs to update its current domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to effectively remove nutrients and offensive contaminants, which negatively impact the hydrographic basins but are not accounted for in the current discharge standards. Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology has proven successful internationally in removing organic matter and nutrients due to its rapid sedimentation and simultaneous biological removal of phosphorus and nitrogen. Despite its effectiveness, AGS technology remains unutilized in our country, leaving unknown requirements and potential implications for transitioning from flocculent sludge treatment to large-scale granular systems. To address this gap, a proposal is put forth to enhance the sedimentation capacity of activated sludge plants, focusing on the WWTP in the Urbanization Monserrat, la Union, Cartago, which is ideally operated as a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The proposal seeks to consolidate its findings through laboratory tests utilizing a laboratory-scale AGS reactor at the CIPA facilities to identify optimal strategies for granule formation from floccules. The proposal will specify the most effective methods to select and enhance phosphorus-accumulating bacteria while reducing the presence of heterotrophic organisms competing for organic matter in flocculent sludge plants and the ideal growth time for nitrifying microorganisms. It will provide an optimal operating sequence and necessary infrastructure modifications to improve biomass feeding and sedimentation capability. In conjunction, the current state of the flocculent sludge WWTP will be thoroughly analyzed and compared to the granular biomass produced in terms of organic matter, nutrients, antibiotic resistance gene count, and molecular analysis of its biological community.

Evaluar el proceso evolutivo de una biomasa granular a partir de lodos activados para el tratamiento simultáneo de contaminantes (materia orgánica, nutrientes y emergentes) provenientes de las aguas residuales domésticas de una PTAR localizada en Costa Rica

1. Soluciones de ingeniería ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible
2. Evaluación y seguimiento de contaminantes químicos y microbiológicos