This study presents a biological system combined upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) with sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to treat ammonium-rich landfill leachate. The start-up and operation of the nitritation at low temperatures were investigated. The synergetic interaction of free ammonia (FA) inhibition on nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and process control was used to achieve nitritation in the SBR. It is demonstrated that nitritation was successfully started up in the SBR at low temperatures (14.0 degrees C-18.2 degrees C) by using FA inhibition coupled with process control, and then was maintained for 482 days at normal/low temperature. Although ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and NOB co-existed within bacterial clusters in the SBR sludge, AOB were confirmed to be dominant nitrifying population species by scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observation and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. This confirmation not only emphasized that cultivating the appropriate bacteria is essential for achieving stable nitritation performance, but it also revealed that NOB activity was strongly inhibited by FA rather than being eliminated altogether from the system. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.