Acclimation of activated sludge to mono-substituted derivatives of phenol and benzoic acid

Abstract

Successful adaptation of sludge to 24 out of 35 phenolic and benzoic acid derivatives was achieved by incubating domestic activated sludge samples with increasing amounts of the various compounds tested. In addition, with manometric techniques it was found that sludges which had adapted to one compound were able to oxidize other compounds to which they had not been previously exposed. However, no strict relationship between the nature and position of substituents in the aromatic ring and the effectivness of the processes of acclimation was found. © 1984, Applied Microbiology, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research Foundation. All rights reserved.