The performance and degradation mechanism of sulfamethazine from wastewater using IFAS-MBR

Sulfamethazine (SMZ) is an important sulfonamide antibiotic. Although the concentration in the environment is small, it is harmful. The drug residues can be transferred, transformed or accumulated, affecting the growth of animals and plants. In this study, the integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor (IFAS-MBR) were constructed to investigate the performance and degradation mechanism of SMZ. The addition of SMZ had a significant impact on the removal of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N). The optimal operating conditions were hydraulic retention time (HRT) at 10 h and solid retention time (SRT) at 80 d, respectively. On this basis, the effects of different SMZ concentrations on nutrient removal, degradation, and sludge characteristics were compared. The removal efficiency of SMZ increased with the increase of SMZ concentration. The maximum removal rate was as high as 87%. The SMZ dosage also had an obvious effect on sludge characteristics. As the SMZ concentration increased, the extracellular polymer substances (EPS) concentration and the membrane resistance both decreased, which were beneficial for the reduction of membrane fouling. Finally, seven kinds of SMZ biodegradation intermediates were identified, and the possible degradation pathways were speculated. The microbial community results showed that the microbial diversity and richness in the reactor decreased after adding SMZ to the influent. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Saccharibacteria and Nitrospirae increased at the phylum level. Sphingobacteria and Betaproteobacteria became dominant species at the class level. The relative abundance of norankp-Saccharibacteria and Nitrospirae increased significantly, and norank-p-Saccharibacteria may be the dominant bacteria for SMZ degradation.