Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) Technology is a novel biological wastewater system that reduces the footprint required from traditional activated sludge processes and provides advanced treatment using the unique features of aerobic granular biomass, comprised of granules.
Bringing cost-effective, mobile treatment to communities without sewers - cutting sludge, energy, and emissions.
In many rural or rapidly growing areas, wastewater is hauled by trucks - an expensive, polluting practice that clogs roads and emits CO₂. Building traditional multi‐tank activated sludge plants is often unfeasible. Our lab’s solution, protected by international patent US-2022-0024796-A1, is a decentralized AGS–GDM system, combining Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS) with a Gravity-Driven Membrane (GDM) in a single, containerized unit.
Aerobic Granular Sludge forms stable, fast‐settling bio-granules, cutting footprint and sludge production. Meanwhile, Gravity-Driven Membrane ultrafiltration passively filters remaining solids and pathogens with minimal pumping.
Beyond engineering AGS reactors, the MAPTech lab deciphers the microbial life that makes them work. By combining large-scale sampling from full-scale plants with next-generation sequencing and transcriptomics, we map how microbial communities form and function. Our systems-level analysis has identified a stable core microbiome that plays a key role in reliable COD and nutrient removal. These insights help operators monitor community dynamics and fine-tune plant operation to maintain optimal treatment performance.