Effect of Suspended-Sediment Concentration on Nitrification in River Water: Importance of Suspended Sediment−Water Interface

High suspended sediment (SPS) concentrations exist in many Asian river systems. In this research, the effects of SPS concentration on nitrification in river water systems were studied. With or without introducing ammonium-oxidizing bacteria isolated from the water and sediment samples of the Yellow River, the microbially mediated nitrification rate increased with SPS concentration as described by the power function y = a·xb, where y is the nitrification rate, x is the SPS concentration, and a and b are constants. With an indigenous ammonium-oxidizing bacteria, nitrification rate constants, i.e., K4 (μmax/KS) values obtained from the Monod model, were 0.0016, 0.0036, 0.0040, 0.0063, 0.0066, 0.0071, and 0.0077 day−1 μM−1 for the systems with SPS concentrations of 0, 0.2 1.0, 5.0, 10, 20, and 40 g/L, respectively. The sorption percentage of NH4+-N increased with SPS concentration as a power function. Bacteria tend to attach onto SPS, and the maximum specific growth rate at the SPS−water interface was about twice that in the water phase. An increase of bacterial population and nitrification rate constant with SPS as a power function resulted in an increase of nitrification rate with SPS as a power function. Therefore, the high SPS concentration caused by erosion and bottom sediment resuspension and other factors will accelerate ammonium oxidation in many turbid river systems. This has useful implications for nitrogen removal from river systems.