%0 Journal Article %@ 19443994 %A Kutty, S.R.M. %A Ezechi, E.H. %A Khaw, S.G. %A Lai, C.L. %A Isa, M.H. %D 2016 %F scholars:6446 %I Taylor and Francis Inc. %J Desalination and Water Treatment %K aqueous solution; bioreactor; concentration (composition); heavy metal; microbial community; performance assessment; water treatment; zinc %N 59 %P 28932-28938 %R 10.1080/19443994.2016.1193768 %T Bio-physical removal of heavy metal from aqueous solution %U https://khub.utp.edu.my/scholars/6446/ %V 57 %X The aim of this study was to compare the performance of a suspended growth bioreactor and a combined bio-physical bioreactor for Zn2+ removal from aqueous solution. Two identical bioreactors (8.5 L each) were operated at a fixed HRT of 29.1 h. The suspended growth bioreactor was used as the control reactor and contained only sludge. The bio-physical bioreactor contains sludge and a low-cost adsorbent derived from groundwater treatment plant sludge. The influent Zn2+ concentration was varied from 0.5 to 15 mg/L in 8 experimental phases. Influent and effluent Zn2+ concentration was monitored daily. Phase 1 (day 1�15) and phase 2 (day 16�29) were used as acclimation period for both bioreactors, respectively. Results show that Zn2+ removal increased with increasing influent Zn2+ concentration from 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L (phases 3�4) but fluctuated thereafter for the suspended growth bioreactor. Zn2+ removal in the bio-physical bioreactor increased with increasing influent Zn2+ concentration from 0.5 to 10 mg/L (phases 3�7) and decreased with further increase in influent Zn2+ concentration to 15 mg/L (phase 8). The effluent Zn2+ concentration in phase 8 for the suspended growth and the bio-physical bioreactors were 58.7 and 90, respectively. The higher removal of Zn2+ in the bio-physical bioreactor was due to heavy metal tolerance and the resistance in heavy metal toxicity on the microbial community of the combined system. © 2016 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved. %Z cited By 2