Biodegradation of Hazardous Wastes by Conventional Biological Treatment

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A review of the literature concerning the biodegradation of toxic and hazardous materials by conventional biological treatment revealed that few generalizations can be made. The main reason for this is that the removal capabilities of any given system are influenced strongly by its physical configuration regardless of the inherent biodegradability of the compounds of interest. Because waste-water treatment engineers have been forced to assess the potential of systems before the intrinsic biodegradability of the target compounds has been established it has been difficult to determine whether failures to remove compounds are the fault of the treatment system. Nevertheless, the literature indicates that most conventional biological treatment systems are remarkably robust and have a large capacity for degrading toxic and hazardous materials. A research program has been proposed which will ultimately lead to generalizations which transcend system conditionalities.