This study demonstrated that a good effluent quality can be
achieved long before granulation is complete. The required flow
and treatment capacity was reached in only 3 months, but the
intended biomass concentration of 8 g L1was only achieved after 9
months. The studied reactors were started with surplus sludge of
the full scale Nereda in Epe, The Netherlands. Although this surplus
sludge was well settling (SVI30 ¼ 140 mL g1), it hardly contained
any granular sludge. Development of granular sludge is expected to
be shortened drastically by starting with granular sludge from