Comparative study on ciprofloxacin removal in sulfur-mediated biological systems

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal in sulfur-mediated bioprocesses, e.g., sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)-mediated process and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB)-mediated process, was examined for the first time. The sludge properties (compositions and structure of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), zeta-potential and surface functional groups) affecting CIP adsorption in these two sludge systems were determined. [Display omitted] The removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in sulfur-mediated bioprocesses, e.g., sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)-mediated process and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB)-mediated process, was examined for the first time. The results showed that the SRB-mediated process had more efficient CIP removal than that in SOB-mediated process. Adsorption was the primary removal pathway of CIP in SRB-mediated process and SOB-mediated process with the specific adsorption removal rate of 131.4 ± 1.1 μg/g-SS/d and 30.1 ± 1.4 μg/g-SS/d, respectively, at influent CIP concentration of 500 μg/L. In addition, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) also played an important role on CIP migration and removal in both types of sludge. Further study was conducted to specify the different adsorption of CIP in these two sludge systems from the perspective of sludge properties. The results indicated that there are more potential adsorption sites exist on the SRB-mediated sludge for CIP adsorption than SOB-mediated sludge since the higher protein (PN) content and more kinds of aromatic amino acid substances in EPS, more negative zeta-potential and stronger and more numbers of functional groups in SRB-mediated sludge compared to SOB-mediated sludge. The findings of this study provide insights into the sludge properties affecting CIP removal in sulfur-mediated bioprocesses, and are of guiding significance to employ sulfur-mediated biological systems for treating CIP-containing wastewaters.