Toxicity Effects of Organic Substances on Nitrification Efficiency

Ammonia content in wastewater causes eutrophication in water bodies due to the biological ammonium oxidation process that is by the nitrification process. In this study, the aim was to determine the concentration and maximum efficiency of biodegradation of ammonium in the nitrification process using the help of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria with carbon sources of autotrophs and heterotrophs. The results of this study indicate that the highest value of nitrification efficiency was achieved by heterotrophic carbon sources with the addition of a catalyst namely H1 with a concentration of 60 mg/L at 30.49%, followed by H1 with a concentration of 80 mg/L at 27.32% and the third largest was 26.12% with the addition of H3 at a concentration of 20 mg/L. However, it should be kept in mind that heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria have a much lower activity level than autotrophic bacteria. This shows that the source of heterotrophs without catalysts had the least efficiency at 0.85% with H3 concentrations of 80 mg/L compared to carbon sources of autotrophs with the smallest efficiency of 3.32% in H2 concentration of 20 mg/L.