System for supporting denitrification

A wastewater treatment system, comprising:

• a treatment station including an anoxic bioreactor in which denitrification is performed on a wastewater having a nitrate concentration with a supply of electron donor and carbon;
• a pulsed electric field station comprising an inlet adapted to receive biological material, a treatment chamber through which biological material received via the inlet passes and including at least two spaced electrodes between which is generated a pulsed electric field and which define at least one treatment zone therebetween, and an outlet adapted to pass treated biological material, the pulsed electric field station generating a non-arcing pulsed electric field with pulses that have a pulse width of 2 to 15 microseconds, a peak field strength of 20 to 60 kV/cm and a frequency of 2,000 to 10,000;
• and
• a transport system coupled to the outlet of the pulsed electric field station and the anoxic bioreactor to provide treated biological material to the anoxic bioreactor in substitution, at least in part, for an external source of electron donor and carbon, to decrease said nitrate concentration.