Functional redundancy and niche complementarity maintain nitrification stability in rapid sand filters.

ABSTRACT: Nitrification in drinking water biofilters is mediated by a complex guild of ammonia oxidizers, yet the mechanisms facilitating the coexistence of these functionally redundant nitrifier guild members are not well understood. Using lab-scale columns packed with material from a full-scale groundwater-fed rapid sand filter (RSF), we investigated the responses of co-occurring complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and archaea (AOA) to operational disturbances over 30 days. Overall, robust nitrification was maintained, with ammonium removal scaling proportionally with substrate loading under oxic conditions. A marked depth-dependent differentiation of nitrifier biomass was identified in the source filter; a 66-fold enrichment of Nitrospira<

SUBMITTER: Palomo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12868214 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature