Nitrification and nitrifying bacteria in the lower Seine River and estuary (France).

ABSTRACT: The Achères wastewater treatment plant, located just downstream of Paris, discharges its effluents into the lower Seine River. The effluents contain large numbers of heterotrophic bacteria, organic matter, and ammonium and are a source of nitrifying bacteria. As a result, degradation of organic matter by heterotrophic bacteria and subsequent oxygen depletion occur immediately downstream of the effluent outlet, whereas nitrifying bacteria apparently need to build up a significant biomass before ammonium oxidation significantly depletes the oxygen. We quantified the potential total nitrifying activity and the potential activities of the ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing communities along the Seine River. In the summer, the maximum nitrifying activity occurs in the upper freshwater estuary, appr

SUBMITTER: Cebron A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC309961 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature