Role of Streambed Biofilms in the Removal of Biodegradable Contaminants from Shallow Streams

摘要

Biological activity in shallow streams is dominated by biofilms which are attached to the surfaces of the streambed. Although biofilm kinetic models are well developed and are successfully applied to biological treatment process, they cannot be applied directly to predict water quality in shallow streams, because the area and mass-transport aspects of streambed biofilms are complicated and not defined. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to develop area and mass-transport functions for cobble-and-conduct kinetic experiments on the biofilm utilization of an easily degraded sugar. Equations to predict the mass transfer coefficients were appropriate for more than one biofilm community, as long as the same medium size was used.