Bioactivation, a procedure to obtain anaerobic sulphidogenic sludge, was developed in order to increase sulphate reduction and, consequently, sulphide production to remove metals from effluents. This procedure, in which the source of carbon/energy (lactate) is gradually replaced, consisted of three operational conditions. It was observed that bioactivation took six months so there was a 100-fold increase in the population of sulphate-reducing bacteria estimated by the most-probable-number (MPN) when molasses was employed as a new source.
Bioactivation; Sulphidogenic sludge; UASB reactor
