Revealing calcium ion behavior during anaerobic phosphorus release process in aerobic granular sludge system

Calcium ions (Ca2+) are important for biological phosphorus (P) removal from wastewater, but its behavior has not been well documented during the anaerobic P release process. This study is aimed to explore the mechanisms of Ca2+ release in bacterial aerobic granular sludge (AGS) system. During the non-aeration (anaerobic) phase, nearly 40 % increase in Ca2+ concentration was detected at the bottom of AGS reactor where decrease in pH and increase in Mg2+ concentration occurred. The pH decrease due to anaerobic P release caused CaCO3 dissolution inside the granules, leading to Ca2+ release. In addition, the increased Mg2+ ions from hydrolysis of poly-phosphates were detected to reversibly exchange with Ca2+ in granules at a molar Delta Ca/Delta Mg ratio of 0.51-0.65. Results from this work revealed that dissolution of CaCO3 and ions exchange between Ca2+ and Mg2+ were the two major contributors to Ca2+ release during anaerobic P release process.