Innovative low cost procedure for nutrient removal as an integrated element of a decentralised water management concept for rural areas

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Burde ◽  
F. Rolf ◽  
F. Grabowski

The absence of large rivers with rather high niveau of self purifying effect in parts of east Germany leads to a discharging of the effluent of wastewater treatment plants into the groundwater in many cases. One useful consequence is the idea of realisation of decentralised measures and concepts in urban water resources management concerning municipal wastewater as well as rainfall, precipitation. At the same time, only the upper soil zone - a few decimetres - is water - saturated and thus discharge effective, even when extreme rainfall takes place. Underneath, however, there generally exists an unsaturated soil zone, which is up to now a rather unexplored retardation element of the hydrologic- and substrate-cycle. Nutrient removal in small wastewater treatment plants that are emptying into ground waters is often beneficial. The presented studies optimised an inexpensive method of subsequent enhanced wastewater treatment. The developed reactor is similar to a concentrated subsoil passage. The fixed bed reactor is divided in two sections to achieve aerobic and anoxic conditions for nitrification/denitrification processes. To enhance phosphorus removal, ferrous particles are put into the aerobic zone. Two series of column tests were carried out and a technical pilot plant was built to verify the efficiency of the process. The results show that this method can be implemented successfully.

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Rolf ◽  
F. Grabowski ◽  
M. Burde

Nutrient removal in small wastewater treatment plants is often beneficial especially if the effluent must be discharged into sensitive or guarded waters or into groundwater. The presented studies optimised an inexpensive method of subsequent enhanced wastewater treatment. The developed reactor is similar to a concentrated subsoil passage. The fixed bed reactor is divided in two sections to achieve aerobic and anoxic conditions for nitrification/denitrification processes. To enhance phosphorus removal, ferrous particles are addedto the aerobic zone. Two series of column tests were carried out and a technical pilot plant was built to verify the efficiency of the process. The results show that this method can be implemented successfully. The aerobic processes, nitrification and phosphorus removal by absorption, were not problematic. Elimination rates higher than 90 % were measured. The capacity of phosphorus removal is principally limited. After consumption of the ferric ions the reactor filling must be renewed. Denitrification strongly depends on the availability of a degradable organic substrate. To balance the substrate load and the nitrate flow a simple device was created. Weekly monitoring of the BOD and nitrate effluent concentration seems to be sufficient to find an appropriate adjustment. A technical-scale pilot plant was built and the first test drives have been started.


The increase of demands on treatment efficiency and cost effective solution for municipal and Industrial wastewater treatment technologies leads to new interest in the biofilm technology. Different fixed growth biofilm reactors are commercially used to increase wastewater treatment efficacy, saving space and energy. Aerated Submerged Fixed Biofilm Bed (SFBB) reactors work based on biofilms attached to plastic supports. Mixing and transport processes within the fixed media are achieved by the aeration in aerobic systems (oxidation of organic compounds and nitrification), and denitrification can be realized in anoxic conditions. The concept of application the moving bed in this study for denitrification reactor (MBDR) has been considered as a viable extension of the capabilities of a SFBB plant in the anaerobic-denitrification stage. Therefore, this novel study was implemented as pilot hybrid-reactor-container-plant to treat municipal wastewater of 200 PE, based on a combination of an aerated submerged fixed bed biofilm (SFBB) and an anoxic moving bed denitrification (MBDR) reactor. The one-year evaluation of this concept shows high nitrification, denitrification rates and, BOD reduction; by controlling the effluent (BOD5≤10 mg/l, COD ≤100 mg/l, TSS: ≤25 mg/l, NH4-: ≤2 mgN/l, NO3≤10 mgN/l)). However, Implementing of certain novel elements leads to improve operation process: (Mixing, intermediate solids removal unit, applicability of Moving bed for denitrification and submerged fixed film in aerobic reactor..etc).


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeshi Cao ◽  
M. C. M. Van Loosdrecht ◽  
Glen. T. Daigger

Abstract Since about the 1990s China has achieved remarkable progress in urban sanitation. The country has built very extensive infrastructure for wastewater treatment, with 94.5% treatment coverage in urban areas and legally mandated nation-wide full nutrient removal implemented. However, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China are still confronted with issues rooted in the unique sewage characteristics. This study compares energy recovery, cost of nutrient removal and sludge production between Chinese municipal WWTPs and those in countries with longer wastewater treatment traditions, and highlights the cause-effect relationships between Chinese sewage characteristics – high inorganic suspended solids (ISS) loads, and low COD and C/N ratio, and municipal WWTP process performance in China. Integrated design and operation guidelines for municipal WWTPs are imperative in relation to the unique sewage characteristics in China. Cost-effective measures and solutions are proposed in the paper, and the potential benefits of improving the sustainability of municipal WWTPs in China are estimated.


2017 ◽  
pp. 904-917
Author(s):  
Giovana O. Fistarol ◽  
Mario Rosato ◽  
Nerieida M. R. Rodríguez ◽  
Mauela A. Bastidas ◽  
Paulo Sérgio Salomon ◽  
...  

Two recurrent topics among the scientific community are the use of microalgae in wastewater treatment plants as a biological agent for nutrient removal, and, more recently, the use of microalgae for biofuel production. In this study we have analysed the possibility of coupling these two processes, using microalgae that naturally form biofilms on wastewater treatment tanks to produce methane. The proposal is to develop a low cost, environmental friendly methodology, with the economical and environmental advantages of enhancing the removal of nutrients from wastewater, and producing sustainable biofuel. A methane assay using microalgae biofilms from the primary and secondary treatment tanks from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) on the Canary Islands (EDAR-del Sureste, Gran Canaria, Spain) showed that, when this substrate is added to a suitable methanogenic bacteria, in this case marine sludge from a fish farm, it gives a methane yield of 0.104 Nm3 kg-1 VS. We also checked the in situ biomass yield of the biofilm (3.16 g AFDW m-2 d-1 and 7.71 g AFDW m-2 d-1, for the primary tank and secondary tank respectively), and the growth of this biofilms in photobioreactors (PBR). When grown in PBR, the algae composition of biofilm from the primary tank becomes dominate by a unicellular chlorophyta and produces 0.24 kg AFDW m- 3 d-1 of biomass; while biofilm from the secondary tank becomes dominated by the filamentous chlorophyta Stigeoclonium, and has a biomass yield of 0.48 kg AFDW m-3 d-1. The biofilms growing the WWTP of the EDAR del Sureste, in Gran Canaria, are a free naturally available source of biomass, and we have shown in this study that this biofilm, besides being used as a natural agent for nutrient removal in a WWTP, it has also the potentialof being used as a low cost, green source of biomass for methane production.


2018 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 03013
Author(s):  
Carla Mae Pausta ◽  
Ramon Christian Eusebio ◽  
Arnel Beltran ◽  
Aileen Huelgas-Orbecido ◽  
Michael Angelo Promentilla

This paper proposes a decision model built on a hierarchical network for optimal selection of biological nutrient removal systems (BNR) in wastewater treatment plants. BNR is an important component of a sustainable wastewater management wherein resource recovery from wastewater becomes an integral part of the municipal wastewater treatment plants (WTP). However, selection of the most appropriate technology or systems requires a multiple criteria analysis. This study focuses on the following criteria namely 1) Economic aspect; 2) Technical aspect; 3) Environmental Aspect; and 4) Space Requirement. The following alternatives were then evaluated: 1) 3 Stage Pho-redox (A2O); 2) 5 Stage Bardenpho (5BP); 3) University of Cape Town (UCT); 4) Virginia Initiative Plant; 5) Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR); 6) Membrane Bioreactor (MBR). A fuzzy ANP approach with Monte Carlo simulation was used to derive the overall priorities of these alternatives. This decision modelling approach addresses the uncertainty and complexity involved in the selection of appropriate BNR in Metro Manila’s WTP.


2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 2115-2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Boehler ◽  
B. Zwickenpflug ◽  
J. Hollender ◽  
T. Ternes ◽  
A. Joss ◽  
...  

Micropollutants (MP) are only partly removed from municipal wastewater by nutrient removal plants and are seen increasingly as a threat to aquatic ecosystems and to the safety of drinking water resources. The addition of powder activated carbon (PAC) is a promising technology to complement municipal nutrient removal plants in order to achieve a significant reduction of MPs and ecotoxicity in receiving waters. This paper presents the salient outcomes of pilot- and full-scale applications of PAC addition in different flow schemes for micropollutant removal in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The sorption efficiency of PAC is reduced with increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Adequate treatment of secondary effluent with 5–10 g DOC m−3 requires 10–20 g PAC m−3 of effluent. Counter-current use of PAC by recycling waste PAC from post-treatment in a contact tank with an additional clarifier to the biology tank improved the overall MP removal by 10 to 50% compared with effluent PAC application alone. A dosage of 15 g PAC m−3 to a full-scale flocculation sand filtration system and recycling the backwash water to the biology tank showed similar MP elimination. Due to an adequate mixing regime and the addition of adapted flocculants, a good retention of the fine fraction of the PAC in the deep-bed filter were observed (1–3 g TSS m−3; TSS: total suspended solids). With double use of PAC, only half of the PAC was required to reach MP removal efficiencies similar to the direct single dosage of PAC to the biology tank. Overall, the application of PAC in WWTPs seems to be an adequate and feasible technology for efficient MP elimination (>80%) from wastewater comparable with post ozonation.


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