Evaluation of the efficacy and regulation measures of the anammox process under salty conditions

•Different salt adaptation strategies were conducted to determine the optimal pattern.•The effectiveness of EBA and GBA to alleviate salinity stress was investigated.•Batch assays ascertained the effects of ion species on the specific anammox activity.•The 50% inhibitory level of the osmotic pressure was calculated. The present study aimed to achieve a better understanding of the performances of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) reactors using different strategies to manage high salt conditions. Batch assays were conducted to ascertain the effects of ion species, and the results demonstrated the different effects on the specific anammox activity. Osmotic pressure was another determining factor with a 50% inhibitory level of 1.4MPa. Self-adaptation strategies were conducted by running R1 (gradual adaptation) and R2 (rapid adaptation), and the nitrogen removal rates were 3.71±0.63kgNm−3d−1 (R1) and 3.48±0.51kgNm−3d−1 (R2) below 15gNaClL−1. Additionally, the NRR decreased significantly when the salinity was increased (more severe in R2). Furthermore, the enhanced adaptation tests confirmed that extra biomass addition (EBA) in R2 was effective to resist the salinity stress, whereas the effectiveness of glycine betaine addition (GBA) in R3 was dubious.