Respiratory Activity of Bacteria in Various Concentrations of Glucose

The most efficient method for reducing the organic content of dilute liquid waste is by aerobic-biological treatment. Basically, the organisms responsible for treatment possess the ability to decompose complex organic compounds and to use the energy so liberated for their bodily functions: reproduction, growth, locomotion and so on. That part of organic matter used to produce energy is converted to the essentially stable end products of carbon dioxide, water and ammonia, while the remainder is converted to new cells which can be settled and thus removed from the liquid before the waste is discharged to the receiving body water. Oxygen must be supplied continuously during the aerobic process. In the field of sewage treatment the Warburg respirometer is used mainly for the measurement of the oxygen uptake of samples. In this experiment the Warburg constant volume respirometer was used to determine the oxygen uptake by bacteria in the presence of various glucose concentrations. The rate of oxygen uptake by the bacteria was expressed as the respiratory quotient. The result indicated that the oxygen uptake was proportional to the glucose concentration. The expecting equation of the regression line was Y=7.7+0.12X where Y: respiratory quotient, taken up/mg. dry wt. bacterium/hr. X: concentration of glucose, mg/l