Assessing microbial biofilm growth on textile media and its efficiency for wastewater treatment

The growing need for sustainable, cost-effective, and efficient wastewater treatment has spurred interest in the use of unconventional materials like synthetic textile media-based membranes in the Attached Growth Biological Reactor (AGBR). While conventional membranes are effective, their adoption is constrained by high costs, energy demands, and fouling issues. This study evaluates five different textile media: Braided Non-Braided (BNB), Broadly Braided (BB), Spiral Braided (SB), Non-Braided (NB), and Horizontal-Vertical Braided (HVB) for their capacity to support microbial biofilm formation and facilitate treatment of primary-treated municipal wastewater in AGBR systems. Among these, BNB and HVB demonstrated markedly superior biofilm development and were thus selected for further analysis in AGBRs. These systems achieved chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies of 62-64 % and attained 85-87 % elimination of ammonia. Kinetic parameters such as maximum microbial growth rates, substrate utilization rates, and yield coefficients were quantified for both autotrophic and heterotrophic communities, providing insight into microbial functional behaviour under varied conditions. Furthermore, textile properties such as linear density and specific surface area were examined, revealing strong correlations with microbial attachment patterns, biofilm density, and reactor performance. These results confirm that textile architecture plays a pivotal role in guiding microbial colonization, mass transfer dynamics, and treatment efficiency. Given their affordability, scalability, and biological compatibility, textile-based media represent a promising alternative to conventional membranes in attached-growth wastewater treatment systems. The techno-economic analysis revealed that, compared to commonly adopted sequencing batch reactors (SBR), AGBR provides a more compact configuration (35 % reduction in footprint) and a cost-effective alternative (35 % lower costs), thereby offering a more sustainable solution for wastewater treatment.