ACTIVATED CARBON AND SYNTHETIC RESINS AS SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR METHANOGENIC PHENOL-DEGRADING CONSORTIA - COMPARISON OF PHENOL-DEGRADING ACTIVITIES

Serum bottle experiments were conducted to investigate the roles that activated carbon and two ion-exchange resins performed as support mate rial in methanogenic phenol-degrading cultures. The consortium associa ted with activated carbon was able to degrade phenol that had been ads orbed to the carbon, demonstrating bioregeneration. Supernatant sample s withdrawn from these cultures over a 90-day period contained an acti ve phenol-degrading population, indicating that the colonized-activate d carbon continuously shed significant amounts of active biomass. The cation-exchange resin did not serve as a suitable support material for microbial colonization. The anion-exchange resin possessed the larges t pore volume and sheltered surface area accessible to a microbial pop ulation. The phenol-degrading activity of biomass associated with this resin continued to increase throughout the 85-day incubation period. Supernatant withdrawn from these cultures was less efficient at removi ng phenol than the supernatant from the activated carbon-containing cu ltures, suggesting that the consortium was still growing and being ret ained on the resin.