Biotechnology for phosphorus removal during wastewater treatment

Biotech. Adv. Vol.

4, pp. 13-26, 1986

0734-9750/86 $0.00 + .50

P~inted in Great Britain. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright ~ Pergamon Journals Ltd

BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL

DURING WASTEWATER TREATMENT STEPHEN YEOMAN, TOM STEPHENSON, JOHN N. LESTER and ROGERPERRY Public Health Engineering Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, Imperial College, London, SW7 2BU, UK

ABSTRACT

Advanced b i o l o g i c a l

wastewater

e x c e s s o f t h e normal m e t a b o l i c

treatment

has been developed as an a l t e r n a t i v e and p i l o t and

plant

plug-flow

investigations type

acetate

Nitrate

bacteria

genus end the

do not

are

and

significant pilot

that

in

certain

and f u l l - s c a l e

Current laboratory

necessary

for

good enhanced

take

cases

up

soluble

in c o n t r a s t

natural

biological

the p r o c e s s whereas

probably responsible polyphosphate within

I t has a l s o been shown t h a t

necessarily

contribution

o f p h o s p h o r u s in

s l u d g e type p r o c e s s e s

addition.

The b a c t e r i a

r e l e a s e d d u r i n g the a n a e r o b i c p h a s e , nism,

t o chemical

presence of stored

h a s been d e m o n s t r a t e d .

Aclnetobacter

removal

in the a n a e r o b i c s t a g e i n h i b i t s

enhances phosphorus uptake.

the Acinetobacter

the

have confirmed t h a t a p r e l i m i n a r y a n a e r o b i c zone

configuration

phosphorus removal.

for

requirements of activa te d

aubstrate

are

of

these

pure c u l t u r e s

of

as

is

phosphate

to t h e c u r r e n t p r o p o s e d mecha-

chemical

precipitation

towards o v e r a l l p h o s p h o r u s r e m o v a l .

could make a

Several s t u d i e s of

p l a n t s have been r e p o r t e d .

KEYWORDS

Acinetobacter,

activated

sludge,

phosphorus

removal,

polyphosphstes,

wastewater treatment.

INTRODUCTION

Phosphorus discharged been c i t e d as c o n t r i b u t i n g

in the e f f l u e n t s

from w a s t e v a t e r t r e a t m e n t works has

to the e u t r o p h i c a t i o n o f some f r e s h w a t e r s , e s p e c i a l l y

13

14

S. YEOMAN eta].

lakes and reservoirs.

As a consequence phosphorus removal

at wastewater treat-

ment plants is practised in some areas, e.g. the Great Lakes in North America, usually by addition of chemicals such as lime and iron salts. development during

of phosphorus

biological

alternative,

removal

wastewater

potentially

in excess

treatment

cheaper

in the 1960s

method

The discovery and

of normal metabolic

compared

and

requirements

1970s has

to chemical

led to an

addition.

This

technique essentially requires the activated sludge process to be operated with a preliminary anaerobic zone and in a plug-flow manner.

Phosphorus removals of

70-90% can be achieved compared to removals of 30-40% in the normal activated sludge process treating domestic wastewater (Schaak et al., 1985). The

literature up to 1983 has been

a_1_l., (1983)

and Arvin

(1985).

comprehensively reviewed by Marais et

The review presented here

includes the latest

developments in this area of research to date.

MECHANISMS OF PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL

A mechanism for biological phosphorus removal from wastewater in excess of

normal

metabolic

requirements

first

involves

the

anaerobic

stage.

Under

these conditions the activated sludge bacteria recycled from the final clarification tanks remove soluble biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), in particular short chain

fatty

1985;

Nicholls

transport cellular

acids

the

su ch as a c e t a t e ,

et

al.,

short

1985;

chain

from t h e w a s t e w a t e r ( B e r n a r d ,

De Vries et el.,

fatty

acids

is

1985).

derived

stored polyphoshates (Figure I).

1984a; L ~ t t e r ,

The energy needed

from t h e h y d r o l y s i s

As a r e s u l t

to

of i n t r a -

soluble orthophosphate is

released from the bacteria causing an elevation of the external phosphate concentration.

During the subsequent aerobic stage the intracellular carbon source

is utilized for the production of energy and carbon dioxide, with the simultaneous

uptake

been

postulated

of

orthophosphate that

the

to

sequence enable the bacteria

the

pathways

polyphosphate in

s uc h

an

store.

It

has

anaerobic-aerobic

i n v o l v e d t o d e r i v e more e n e r g y in t h e form of a d e -

~,NAEROBIC

,~z,trlx

replenish

catabolic

LI-BOD

AEROBIC

P043"

Energy

Bocterlo Figure I

BOD

Poly-P

02--D,----BOD

Proposed mechanism of biological phosphorus removal

PoIy-P

PHOSPHORUS REMOVALDURINGWASTEWATERTREATMENT nosine triphosphate

(ATP) compared to b a c t e r i a

only (Narais et e l . , this

1983).

Comeau e t e l . ,

15

f u n c t i o n i n g in the a e r o b i c s t a g e

(1985) and Heymann (1985) developed

p r o p o s e d t h e o r y f u r t h e r and s u g g e s t e d t h a t the p r o t o n m o t i v e f o r c e was a l s o

i n v o l v e d in e n e r g y p r o d u c t i o n and p h o s p h o r u s removal. Concomitant w i t h

the

above b i o l o g i c a l

the chemical p r e c i p i t a t i o n

mechanism, Arvin

o f p h o s p h o r u s can c o n t r i b u t e

(1985)

stated

t o the o v e r a l l

that

removal.

This is due to the h i g h c o n c e n t r a t i o n of s o l u b l e p h o s p h a t e from c e l l u l a r

release

and the r e d u c i n g c o n d i t i o n s in the a n a e r o b i c zone which can e n c o u r a g e the p r e c i pitation

of

calcium,

iron

metal

phosphates.

and

aluminium

phosphate precipitates

and t h a t

chemical

and

el.

precipitation

(1985)

also

found

Kerdachi played

and

major

Roberts

roles

in

(1985s) the

observed

formation

of

that metal

p h o s p h o r u s removal was due to a c o m b i n a t i o n of

intracellular

that

polyphosphate accumulation.

insoluble

metal

phosphates

and

H i j a e~t

intracellular

p o l y p h o s p h a t e a c c o u n t e d f o r p h o s p h o r u s removal in an a n a e r o b i c - a e r o b i c t r e a t m e n t process.

Indeed,

Arvin e t

el.

(1985) p r e s e n t e d a model f o r p h o s p h o r u s removal

t h a t e c c o u n t e d f o r both b i o l o g i c a l

and chemical mechanisms.

MICROBIOLOGY

Polyphosphetes The p r e s e n c e o f p o l y p h o s p h a t e s in b a c t e r i a l t r e a t m e n t has been d e t e c t e d by s t a i n i n g and

Phosphorus-3l

nuclear

1984; Hascoet e t e l . ,

magnetic

1985).

nal

resonance

Carbon d i o x i d e ,

caused polyphosphate h y d r o l y s i s .

and

of

first

(Floreotz et el., mical

order

in

fractionatlon

techniques

to

from w a s t e w e t e r 1985a) et

al.,

the

1985). the

all

o f p h o s p h o r u s between the e x t e r -

with

study

(Florentz

a low pH and 2 , 4 - d i n l t r o p h e n o l

in the b a c t e r i a

accordance

1984; Hascoet e t e l . ,

from a p l a n t b i o l o g i c a l l y

isolated

spectroscopy

The t r a n s f e r

medium and t h e p o l y p h o s p h a t e pool

sible

cells

t e c h n i q u e s ( K e r d a c h i end R o b e r t s ,

was proved t o be r e v e r -

polyphosphate

Mino e t e l . location

concentration

( 1 9 8 5 e ; b ) used c h e -

of p h o s p h o r u s

removing e x c e s s p h o s p h o r u s .

in

sludge

I t was s u g g e s t e d t h a t low

m o l e c u l a r w e i g h t p o l y p h o s p h a t e s were an energy s o u r c e under a n a e r o b i c c o n d i t i o n s w h i l s t the h i g h m o l e c u l a r w e i g h t p o l y p h o s p h a t e s a c t e d as a p h o s p h o r u s s o u r c e f o r bacterial for

anabolic

pathways d u r i n g

phosphorus transfer

in the

aerobic

anaerobic,

growth.

A model was a l s o p r o p o s e d

growth and endogenous p h a s e s o f the

m i c r o o r g a n i s m s i n v o l v i n g t h e low and high m o l e c u l a r w e i g h t p o l y p h o s p h a t e s p l u s other metebolic of seperate

intermediates.

which p a r t i c i p a t e d (1985)

Ksinrath et

el.

p o o l s of p o l y p h o s p h a t e s by s l u d g e

studied

the

(1985)

c o n f i r m e d the e x i s t e n c e

fractionation;

o n l y m p o r t i o n of

in the c y c l e of p h o s p h o r u s u p t a k e and r e l e a s e . anaerobic

release

and

aerobic

uptake

s l u d g e taken from a l a b o r a t o r y a n a e r o b i c - a e r o b i c p r o c e s s .

of

Rowoth e t e l . phosphate

using

The blomass c o n t a i n e d

4 . 4 l p h o s p h o r u s ( d r y w e i g h t b a s i s ) and the c y c l e of uptake and r e l e e s e was

16

S YEOMANetaL

observed biomass

over a 14 day period when cultured on a phosphorus was

phosphorus and

able

to

sustain

itself

before significant

Deinema

(1985)

observed

polyphosphate

accumulation

vated

plant.

sludge

for

a

further

9 days

signs of deterioration

Accumulation

in the

occurred.

that a lipid cellular in Acinetobacter

free medium.

energy

during

absence

of

Van Groenestijn

source was used

strain 210A isolated

was maximum

The

for

from an acti-

low temperature

and pH,

whereas continuous

fast growing cells lost the ability to store large amounts of

phosphorus.

polyphosphate

The

granules

contained

large

amounts

of calcium,

magnesium and potassium and probably acted as a reserve for these cations. Polyphosphate cells

and

kinase

Robinson

propionibacterium in the process the activity lity.

shermanii,

Bacillus The

sacetylase

subtiIis,

activities

of

responsible

the

for

of

genus

Acinetobacter

Acinetobacter of

7-10% p h o s p h o r u s acids

bacteria

et

that

(based

to

on dry

'clump'

important

suggested that were

due

al.,

al.

often

species

showed no

(L~tter,

been

therefore

practising

(1985)

1985),

weight)

as

1985).

have t h e a b i l i t y

polyphosphate,

to

errors this

in i d e n t i f y i n g clumping.

Acinetobacter

phosphorus removal. the

Acinetobacter

It

stationary

lwoffi;

this

It

and

and

utilize

growth phase

chain

in a c t i v a t e d

was p o s t u l a t e d and

sludge

w hi c h c a u s e that

the

et

al.

Rascoet

species

or e s t i m a t i n g

(1984)

screened

p h o s p h o r u s re mova l p l a n t

Bacillus

could take

short

and a e r o b i c u p t a k e

Hartemann

was t h e main s p e c i e s observed that

different

to accumulate

material

release

Acinetobacter

Florentz

from a b i o l o g i c a l

lwoffi

was a l s o

1985).

uptake

for

in numbers e x c e e d i n g

The A c i n e t o b a c t e r

(LBtter,

as

biological

a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50%

sludge

present

l a y e r of e x t r a c e l l u l a r

phosphorus

identified

excess

e x c e s s p h o s p h o r u s re mova l

screened

were

Acinetobacter

together in

accumulating bacteria

observed that

in

most

and

Acinetobacter

zones.

(Deinema e t

was

phosphorus

have

in a p l a n t

a p p e a r t o be c o v e r e d by a t h i n

cepacia

phospha-

d e h y d r o g e n a s e and p h o s p h o t r a n -

as a c a r b o n s o u r c e and u n d e r g o a n a e r o b i c r e l e a s e

phosphorus

( 1985)

(1985a) used removing abi-

activity wheres Aeromonas

coli and Serratia

polyphosphate

Cloete found

106 o r g a n i s m s p e r ml in a l l

numbers

of phosphorus

in from

implicated

lwoffi, Acinetobacter

3-hydroxybutyrate

organisms

Acinetobacter.

clumping

T'Seyen et al.

as a measure

Escherichia

has not been

K e r d a c h i and R o b e r t s (1985b) c l a i m e d t h a t

the heterotrophic

m i c r o o r g a n i s m s and

the

removal.

enzyme

best with phosphorus removing ability

storage

phosphorus removal.

often

kinase

however,

this

Species

Bacteria

of

phosphorus

of polyphosphate

purified

fluorescens had appreciable

have c o r r e l a t e d

Bacterial

for the synthesis partially

This bacterium,

of biological

and Pseudomonas

activity.

fatty

(1984)

of polyphosphate

hydrophila,

wer e

al.

In pure culture experiments

devorus

of

is responsible

et

responsible

for

and

excess

c e r e u s and Pseudomonas

up more p h o s p h o r u s

removal was more p r o n o u n c e d in t h e a c t i v e

t ha n

grow t h

the

PHOSPHORUS REMOVALDURINGWASTEWATERTREATMENT phase.

The d i f f e r e n c e

c o u l d have been due t o t h e B a c i l l u s

l a r g e b a c t e r i u m and a l s o b e c a u s e t h e g r o w t h c o n d i t i o n s Acinetobacter.

Beccari et

el.

(1985)

and A c i n e t o b a c t e r

celcoaceticus

scale

phosphorus

biological

removal

present

In

pure

culture

process.

induce

experiments acetate

release

under

extensive

ditions

was n o t

anaerobic

uptake

of

Oht a ke

a l o n e were n o t s u f f i c i e n t

amounts

et

el.

It

and

(1984;

1985)

bacterium during

subsequent

was c o n c l u d e d

to stimulate

lwoffi

in • p i l o t -

in e x c e s s phosphorus removal.

t a k e n up by t h i s

conditions

phosphorus.

calcoaceticus

in l a r g e

questioned the role of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus

phosphate

cereus being a very

were n o t optimum f o r t h e

found A c i n e t o b a c t e r

anitretus

17

aeration

that

did

not

anaerobic

con-

the phosphorus uptake ability

of

the cells. Other

species

phosphorus.

of

bacteria

Acinetobacter,

phosphorus removal p l a n t s abilities

(LStter

and

have

been

stored

plant

including

Pseudumonas

1985).

the

cell

pneumoniae

reactors and

accumulated

to

enriched

with

bacteria

other

teria

were

that

despite

species

et

el.

capable

cultures

of

calcoaceticus. when t h e

of

tate

into

removal

source.

may

for

be

the

could

be

I t was p o s t u l a t e d the

this

phosphorus

Large

In a d d i t i o n

important

for

to

achieved

a

laboratory

fermentation

fatty

31% o f

and

cellular

starved of

the

K]ebsiella

phosphorus

starved

polyphosphate

cells

was was

accumulating

phosphorus

removal.

in

B r o d i s c h (1985 a ; b )

acids

for

Aeromonas, E s c h e r i c h i a

no e n h a n c e d b i o l o g i c a l

a bench

activated

scale

the

anaerobic

phase

sludge

especially

w hi c h was

to e n h a n c e p h o s p h o r u s r e m o v a l . scale

reactor

the

found

calcoaceticus,

unit.

Aeromones

t h a t Aeromonas p u n c t a t a p r o d u c e d and e x c r e t e d a c e -

to

pilot

plant

produce

u s u a l a n a e r o b i c zone ( T ' S e y e n e t a l . , duced

wastewater treat-

amounts

blological

removal of p h o s p h o r u s .

medium d u r i n g calcoaceticus

proposal

anaerobic

of

isolated

calcoaceticus

storing

g r o w t h medium of

h i g h numbers of A c i n e t o b a c t e r

Acinetobacter

(1985)

Acinetobacter

Removal o n l y o c c u r r e d when Aeromonas s p e c i e s were p r e s e n t , punctata.

removal

from b i o l o g i c a l

(1985) o b s e r v e d t h a t Aerumonas s p e c i e s p l u s o t h e r a c l d o g e n i c b a c -

important

phosphorus

excess

G e r s b e r g and A l l e n (19 85) us e d s u s p e n d e d and immo-

bacteria

a phosphorus

Meganck e t e l .

was

study pure

Acinetobacter

by t h e s e

Suresh

lwoffi,

latter

p h o s p h o r u s as p o l y p h o s p h a t e . bilized

the

from an a n a e r o b i c - a e r o b i c

Acinetobacter

vesiculeris;

in

p o l y p h o s p h a t e s and a l s o p o s s e s s e d d e n i t r i f y i n g

Murphy,

polyphosphate accumulating bacteria ment

implicated

Pseudomonas and Aeromonas i s o l a t e d

1985b).

phosphorus

was

acetate

then

developed for

the

with

bacteria

•

replacement

The g e n e r a o f b a c t e r i a

removing

utilized

by

In a c c o r d a n c e w i t h

were

separate of

the

which p r o -

identified

as

and K l e b s i e l l a .

OPERATING CONDITIONS

The i n f l u e n t

characteristics

a r e t h o u g h t t o be an i m p o r t a n t p a r a m e t e r in t h e

18

S. YEOMAN etal,

process

of

phosphorus

removal.

d e m a n d (COD) t o t o t a l ability

and

however,

kjeldahl

established

disputed

Ekama e t

the

nitrogen

guidelines

al.

(TKN) r a t i o for

application

(1984)

of

plant these

used

the

to define

chemical

phosphorus

removal

Barnard

(1984a),

operation. guidelines

oxygen

suggesting

that

the

COD:TKN ratio was not important provided there was a sufficient concentration of volatile

fatty

acids

achieved

using

the

in

the

concept

influent of

to

the

'activated'

anaerobic

primary

zone.

tanks

This

(Bernard,

can

be

1984a).

Sludge from the primary sedimentation tanks is passed to a thickening tank where fermentation

takes place producing volatile

fatty acids.

The

supernatant

and

some sludge from this thickening tank is then returned to the primary sedimentation tanks in order to increase the concentration of volatile fatty acids in the influent to the anaerobic zone.

De Vries et el. (1985) studied the utiliza-

tion of different substrates and organic loading in pilot plant experiments and observed

that at low sludge

loadings

addition of acetate

increased phosphorus

removal from approximately 45% to >90%. The

simple addition of a preliminary anaerobic

zone prior to a completely

mixed aerobic zone is insufficient to induce excess phosphorus removal - such a laboratory-scale (Ni, 1984).

system removed only 23 to 35% of

influent

soluble phosphorus

Malnou et el. (1984) reported phosphorus removals of 80% or more in

a pilot plant operating with a completely mixed anaerobic zone but with a four stage aerobic zone.

An element of plug-flow is normally incorporated into the

design of biological phosphorus removal in both

the

anaerobic

Krichten et al.,

zone for nitrification, present,

between

and aerobic

1985).

However,

plants by addition of baffled sections

zones

(Bernard,

1984b;

Best

et

s].,

1985;

a pilot plant with a completely mixed anoxic

i.e., a zone with no dissolved oxygen but with nitrates

completely mixed

anaerobic

and aerobic

zones removed >70% of

influent phosphorus (Donker et al., 1985). Gerber

and

Winter

(1985)

operated

a

laboratory-scale

anaerobic-anoxic-

aerobic system fed with municipal wastewater and achieved high phosphorus removals when the anaerobic retention time was increased from 6 to 12 h or longer, suggesting that the usual nominal anaerobic retention times of 0.5 to 3 h can be extended.

In a pilot plant study the longer anaerobic detention time increased

phosphorus removal by 30-40% (Rensink e t a!]. , 1985). et el.

In contrast to this Malnou

(1984) observed the complete aerobic uptake of phosphorus, irrespective

of the previous anaerobic retention time and Fukase et el. (1985a;b) found that long

anaerobic

phosphorus

retention

times

concentrations.

and high

Addition

of

COD

loadings

a second

resulted

anaerobic

in low sludge

reactor

does

not

influence the biological mechanism of phosphorus removal but appeared to enhance chemical precipitation (Ramadori e t nil. , 1985). the

anaerobic

zone

is

the

redox

potential

Another important parameter in

(Barnes

et

al.,

1985).

Koch

and

Oldham (1985) concluded that at times there was a definite relationship between

PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL DURING WASTEWATER TREATMENT

an

increase

in

(approximately

phosphate

release

and

the

-175 to -275mV with reference

decrease

19

in

to Ag/AgCI).

redox

can also in general terms be related to nitrate concentrations. nitrates removal

in the anaerobic (Van Groenestijn

potential

The redox potential The presence of

zone has been shown to inhibit biological and Deinema,

phosphorus

1985; Vinconneau et al., 1985).

This was

possibly due to Acinetobacter and other bacteria using the nitrates as an alternative

electron

phosphorus

acceptor,

release.

thus

preventing

Hascoet and Florentz

organic

substrate

uptake

and

(1985a) observed that recycled nitra-

tes have a negligible effect on phosphorus removal

if the influent chemical oxy-

gen demand was sufficiently high. Research

on

laboratory

simulations

has

shown

that

phosphorus

removal

can

decrease at sludge ages >14 d (Fukase et al., 1985a) and at full-scale scum formation

has

This

been associated

scum

distinct

contains

large

from those

with

long s]udge

numbers

ages

(Osborn and Nicholls,

of Acioetobacter

in the sludge

flocs

(Hart,

in groups

1985).

1985).

morphologically

Anaerobic

batch

tests

demonstrated that phosphorus release was higher if the pB was initially adjusted to pH6, compared to one where the pH was readjusted to pH6 every 2 h (Hashimoto and Furukawa,

1984).

In these experiments

the pR often rose to pH8, above which

readjustment gave better phosphorus release. obtained

a Ql0

20 to 30°C.

of 2.4

However,

for phosphorus

it has been suggested

teria are psychrophilic

efficiently

in

that phosphorus

increase

from

accumulating

bac-

since phosphorus removal was greater at 5°C than at lO°C

and 15°C (Krichten et al., 1985). tion

Hashimoto and Furukawa (1984) also

uptake with a temperature

cold

Biological

climates

down

to

phosphorus

removal can also func-

approximately

10°C

(Kang

et

al.,

1985).

PILOT AND FULL-SCALE TREATMENT

The

operation

practising 1985

and

are

anaerobic

of several

biological shown

excess

pilot

in Table

stage and many

and

I.

All

incorporate

3

Detailed

to

5

stages

descriptions

(1985) and Eckenfelder

and

the

'A/O'

wastewater

treatment

removal have been reported these

processes

combinations

for nitrification and denitrification. have

full-scale

phosphorus

'Rotanox' are

on

a preliminary

of anoxic and aerobic

The 'Bardenpho'

and

rely

stages

and 'Phoredox' processes

plants

included

plants

in 1984 and

have

2 or 3 stages.

of these

processes

(1985).

The pilot plant described by Raper e_ttal. (1985)

had I anaerobic zone followed by 3 aerobic stages;

in the reviews

by Arvin

that of Fukase e_.~tsl. (1985)

had 3 anaerobic and 4 aerobic stages; and De Vries and Rensink (1985) included 5 anaerobic and 5 aerobic stages with a phosphate sludge stripper. In 1984 there were approximately

30 wastewater

treatment works achieving or

designed for biological nutrient removal operating in South Africa (Wiechers,

S.Africa

USA

Barnard (1984b)

H o n g et a l .

FS

Canada

UK

USA

USA

Austria

France

Barnard et al. (1985)

Best et al. (1985)

Irvine et el. (1985)

Kang et el. (1985)

Spatzierer et el. (1985)

V [ n c o n n e a u et e l .

* FS -

Full

Scale

PP -

Pilot

Plant

Australia

Raper et al. (1985)

AS - A c t i v a t e d

Sludge

PP, Modified AS

PP, Modified AS

Japan

Fukase et al. (1985b)

Modified AS

Modified AS

A/O

SBR

Rotanox

Bardenpho

PP, Modified AS

FS

FS

FS

FS

PP, Phoredox

De Vries and Rens~nk (1985) Netherlands

(1985)

FS

France

Malnou et el. (1984)

PP, Phoredox

W.Germany

Kainrath et al. (1984)

PP, A/O

USA

FS, A/O

FS, Bardenpho

Type*

Deakyne et al. (1984)

(1984)

Country

Performance of pilot and full-scale w a s t e w a t e r

Reference

Table I.

SBR -

0.17

48

1.7

830

9

10

-

<2

12-18

22-25

Sequencing

215,000

53,000

770

35,000

23,000

0.05

7

30

9.6

(d)

(m3d -l)

12,100

age

flow

-

Sludge

Design

Batch

5801

98

300

5951

220

125

170

150

225

6561

334

200

145

3941

Reactor

8.3

5.0

18

-

-

<90

89

-

-

25

76

91

99

73

-

78

93

N (%)

I COD

10.6

]O.l

3.5

8.5

14.0

7

15

15.7

8.4

8.9

9.6

Influent BOD P (mgl -I) (mgl -I)

80

<90

90t

92

95

95

98

941

-

95

94

831

64

92

97

83

49

82

86

41

94

77

79

83

79

95

3.0

0.4

0.5

1.8

5.2

0.63

1.2

8.3

0.43

3.5

3.3

1.4

1.8

0.5

Removals Effluent BOD P P (%) (%) (mg] -I)

treatment plants practising biolosical phosphorus removal

PHOSPHORUS REMOVALDURINGWASTEWATERTREATMENT 1984).

21

Although some of these plants msy practise nitrification

and denitrifi-

cation only, at least !0 are operated in order to achieve biological phosphorus removal

(Paepcke,

process,

which

phosphorus, plants

1983)

Levin

involves

has

been

operational

and E l s t e r

chemical

installed

a t Largo,

at

(1985)

stripping 15 s i t e s

Florida

of in

(Hong e t

stated

that

biological

the

el.,

USA, in

the

'Phostrip'

sludge

high

addition

to

1984) and P o n t i a c ,

Michigan

(Kang e t e l . ,

1985).

Laboratory trials

with a sequencing batch r e a c t o r ,

is e s s e n t i a l l y

a fill

and draw a c t i v a t e d

sludge system,

cal

p h o s p h o r u s removal was p o s s i b l e

plant

at C u l v e r ,

removals

et

al.,

1985).

removal has only been p r a c t i s e d et el.,

1985).

operational and F l o r e n t z ,

(Manning and I r v i n e ,

I n d i a n a has been o p e r a t e d

(Irvine

indicated

In

1985) and a f u l l - s c a l e

in o r d e r to a c h i e v e h i g h p h o s p h o r u s

at an e x p e r i m e n t a l

p l a n t on a t r i a l

At l e a s t one p l a n t d e s i g n e d f o r b i o l o g i c a l 1985;

Oldham,

1985b) and one based on a l t e r n a t i n g

under c o n s t r u c t i o n

in A u s t r a l i a

which

that biologi-

the United Kingdom b i o l o g i c a l

in Canada ( B e r n a r d e t a ~ . ,

in

'A/O'

phosphorus b a s i s (Best

p h o s p h o r u s removal is

1985) and France (Hascoet

o x i d a t i o n d i t c h t e c h n o l o g y was

in 1984 ( S t r o m , 1984).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The a u t h o r s are g r a t e f u l Soap and D e t e r g e n t

f o r the s u p p o r t p r o v i d e d f o r one o f us (TS) by the

Industry Association

and the

Centre

Europ~en d ' E t u d e s

des

Polyphosphates E.V..

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