Integration of nitrification with denitrification for water treatment

Abstract

   With poor water catchment protection, surface water and groundwater sources can be polluted by many substances, of which, ammonia is one of the primary factors. While conventional methods for ammonia treatment using chlorine present limitations during treatment processes, biological treatment solutions are highly appropriate in efficiently removing contaminants such as ammonia. The study was conducted by an experiment at the lab-scale focused on the integration of a nitrification system with a denitrification system to remove ammonia and other nitrogen compounds in treatment surface water and groundwater. The results revealed that the nitrification system with hydraulic rate of 0.3 L min-1 can remove 83 mg NH4-N day-1 with 4.88 m2 of polypropylene media. It corresponds to 17 mg NH4-N m-2 day-1 of ammonium nitrogen surface load. Meanwhile, 716 mg NO3-N day-1 was eliminated by the denitrification system with hydraulic rate of 42 ml min-1.