Molecular monitoring of bulking sludge in industrial wastewater treatment plants

Fluorescent In Situ Hybridisation (FISH) was used to monitor the presence of filamentous microorganisms in industrial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Monitoring with a restricted set of FISH probes in WWTPs from potato industry showed growth and decline of Thiothrix populations that could be linked to operational procedures. In a follow up project new FISH probes were developed for filamentous bacteria in industrial WWTPs and 70 WWTPs were analysed for presence of these filaments. Several newly described species of filamentous bacteria appear to be common and dominant in industrial WWTPs. Monitoring of a WWTP from textile industry showed growth and decline of one of these organisms when operational conditions in the plant were varied. The present paper demonstrates that bulking sludge in industrial wastewater treatment plants can effectively be monitored using a combination of standard chemical analyses and the FISH technique.