Introduction:

Gas biofiltration in an organic fixed bed works as a natural filter with high porosity and sorption properties. It retains contaminants by physical-chemical processes and on the other hand, it supports the growth of degrading microorganisms. Complex mixtures such as active sludge application for biofilters inoculation is more convenient than the isolated species use. This guarantees a favorable culture medium for microorganisms development, which close biogeochemical cycles of elements such as sulfur, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. However, problems may arise with regard to effluent discharge regulations in order to preserve quality of receiving ground waters.

Objective:

To evaluate the quality of a residual effluent from biological treatment system of natural gas.

Materials and Methods:

Chemical and microbiological parameters were determined according to the (APHA-AWWA-WEF, 2005) and ISO standards.

Results and Discussion:

It was demonstrated that there is a growth of bacteria and fungi degraders of H2S (g) of natural gas of 6.0·108 CFU.mL-1; and it was corroborated that there is a gradual increase in sulphate concentration from 20.4 to 867.51 mg.L-1, as a result of this degradation

Conclusions:

A strong correlation between the bacterial development and the decrease of nitrogen content in the system was observed; and it was possible to remove other pollution indicators as fecal coliforms, COD, BOD and sedimentable solids in effluent, in order to improve discharge quality.

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