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Innovative wastewater treatment technologies, such as partial nitrification (PN), simultaneous nitrification-denitrification (SND), and denitrifying phosphorus removal (DPR), are intensively studied for biological nutrient removal (BNR). However, the implementation of such techniques in practice is still a challenge due to the insufficient engineering experience. Here, we proposed a mass balance framework to quantify the contributions of PN, SND, and DPR for nitrogen and phosphorus removal in a modified anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (AAO) process. The process data were acquired for 8 months in a pilot-scale plant, which was parallel to a full-scale plant with the same process. As the result, SND via nitrite and DPR via nitrate were found dominant among the six pathways of nitrogen removal, which contributed 22% and 15% removal of total influent nitrigon, respectively. Phosphorus accumulation organisms using free …