Stabilization of waste activated sludge (WAS) is an essential step for the disposal or reuse. In this study, WAS stabilization via electrochemical pretreatment (EPT) at 0–15V was evaluated for simultaneous dewaterability enhancement, pathogen removal and H₂S mitigation. The mechanism underlying EPT was investigated and discussed based on the changes in the physicochemical (e.g., particle size, zeta potential, hydrophobicity and extracellular polymeric substances) and biological characteristics (i.e. cell morphology, and distribution and percentages of live/dead cells) of WAS with different EPT voltages. The results revealed that EPT disintegrated WAS flocs and disrupted the cell walls leading to a reduction in particle size (by up to 50%), increased release of extracellular and intracellular substances (by up to 4 times) to facilitate WAS stabilization. With EPT at 15V, the capillary suction time of WAS decreased by 42%, and the concentrations of E. coli and indicator pathogens (Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus faecalis) fell by nearly 5 log₁₀ reaching U.S. EPA hygienization levels. Furthermore, EPT at 12V or higher suppressed the amounts of dissolved sulfide and H₂S_(g) produced from the WAS under anaerobic conditions by over 99%. This study demonstrates the feasibility of EPT for simultaneous WAS dewaterability enhancement, pathogen inactivation and H₂S mitigation, providing a one-step alternative for sludge stabilization.

Sulfide-oxidizing autotrophic denitrification (SOAD) implemented in a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is a promising alternative to conventional heterotrophic denitrification in mainstream biological nitrogen removal. The sulfide-oxidation intermediate – elemental sulfur – is crucial for the kinetic and microbial properties of the sulfur-oxidizing bacterial communities, but its role is yet to be studied in depth. Hence, to investigate the performance and microbial communities of the aforementioned new biosystem, we operated for a long term a laboratory-scale (700 d) SOAD MBBR to treat synthetic saline domestic sewage, with an increase of the surface loading rate from 8 to 50 mg N/(m²·h) achieved by shortening the hydraulic retention time from 12 h to 2 h. The specific reaction rates of the reactor were eventually increased up to 0.37 kg N/(m³·d) and 0.73 kg S/(m³·d) for nitrate reduction and sulfide oxidation with no significant sulfur elemental accumulation. Two sulfur-oxidizing bacterial (SOB) clades, Sox-independent SOB (SOB_I) and Sox-dependent SOB (SOB_II), were responsible for indirect two-step sulfur oxidation (S²⁻→S⁰→SO₄ ²⁻) and direct one-step sulfur oxidation (S²⁻→SO₄ ²⁻), respectively. The SOB_II biomass-specific electron transfer capacity could be around 2.5 times greater than that of SOB_I (38 mmol e⁻/(gSOB_II·d) versus 15 mmol e⁻/(gSOB_I·d)), possibly resulting in the selection of SOB_II over SOB_I under stress conditions (such as a shorter HRT). Further studies on the methods and mechanism of selecting of SOB_II over SOB_I in biofilm reactors are recommended. Overall, the findings shed light on the design and operation of MBBR-based SOAD processes for mainstream biological denitrification.