Biological treatment of whey by Tetrahymena pyriformis and impact study onlaboratory-scale wastewater lagoon process

A procedure based on a biological treatment of whey was tested as part of r esearch on waste treatment at the scale of small cheesemaking units. We stu died the potential biodegradation of whey by a protozoan ciliate, Tetrahyme na pyriformis, and evaluated the functional, microbiological and physiologi cal disturbances caused by crude whey and the biodegraded whey in laborator y-scale pilots mimicking a natural lagoon treatment. The results show that T. pyriformis can strongly reduce the pollutant load of whey. in the lagoon pilots serving as example of receptor media, crude whey gradually but comp letely arrested operation, whereas with the biodegraded whey adverse effect s were only temporary, and normal operation versus a control was gradually recovered in a few days. (C)1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.