ThesisAuthors: Davis, Johnny A. (2006)
Anaerobic digesters have been used for treatment of various wastewaters. Systems are usually operated at mesophilic (35°C) temperatures and long hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (> 20 days). Pathogen reduction during anaerobic digestion is mainly correlated with operating temperature and HRT. Higher temperatures and longer HRTs result in increased rates of pathogen decimation.
Previous studies show that a novel fixed-film anaerobic digester, operated at a low HRT (< 3 days) and ambient temperature (< 28°C) treating flushed dairy manure wastewater, achieved significant reductions of indicator and pathogenic bacteria. Thus, we sought to determine factors that contributed to indicator and pathogenic bacteria reduction during operation at a low HRT and ambient temperature. The presen... 
