Construction of a New Water Treatment System Based on Material Circulation

A new water treatment system based on material circulation was constructed for purification of naturally polluted pond water in an aquarium. The water treatment system consisted of microbial columns with different flow rates (1.8 L/min/column in 6-columns unit and 2.9 L/min/column in 3-columns unit). Two hundred liters of water from a naturally polluted pond were treated for 14 days using the water treatment system. After treatment, the COD, TC, and TN had been reduced by up to 19.2%, 14.4%, and 20.1%, respectively. The bacterial biomass in the 3-columns unit was 7-fold higher than that in the 6-columns unit, and PCR-DGGE analysis showed slightly different bacterial communities between the two columns (<86%). The new water treatment system also worked efficiently in a fish-cultivated aquatic environment, w