Microbial Community Structure Diversity in the Dewatered Sludge from 4 Different Waste Water Treatment Plants used for CSRB in Colder Season

Abstract

Compacted Sludge Reducing Barrier (CSRB) was tested to be a feasible barrier for Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from tailings in case the ground water contamination. Because of its double function (encapsuling and reducing), the microbial community structure diversity in the sludge played a key role. In this paper, we researched the correlation between heavy metals and microbial structure diversity in the dewatered sludge from 4 different sewage treatment process plants in Lanzhou city, a developing area of northwest China, in the colder season. The results indicated that the microbial community structure diversity differed and were unique among the different sewage plants; their correlation with heavy metals was also unique independently.