This research attempts to evaluate nitrification treatment performance in combined carbon/nitrogen municipal wastewater reactors using traditional physical/chemical methods and modern molecular techniques. Bench scale activated sludge reactors were operated at different SRTs under varying DO levels and temperatures over a 21-month period. Real-time PCR assays were used to determine cell concentrations of total bacterial 16S rDNA, a gross measure of biomass content, the amoA gene, a measure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and the Nitrospira 16S rDNA gene, a measure of nitrite-oxidizing...