AWWA ACE93138

Biofilm reactors for the treatment of drinking water supplies contaminated with chlorinated solvents are a potentially attractive alternative to conventional treatment methods. Aerobic biological treatment is advantageous because the contaminants are primarily oxidized to carbon dioxide and chloride, resulting in their removal and destruction. Research on biological treatment processes has focused on the ability of certain microorganisms to cometabolize chlorinated solvents when grown on oxygenase inducing substrates such as methane or phenol. This paper addresses the use of a sequencing biofilm reactor to cometabolize chloroethenes with organisms grown on phenol. The results of experiments examining the removal of chloroethene mixtures fed to the reactor are presented and discussed.