Upgrade of three municipal wastewater treatment lagoons using a high surface area media

Abstract

Lagoon-based municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are facing difficulties meeting the needs of rapid population growth as well as the more stringent requirements of discharge permits. Three municipal WWTPs were modified using a high surface area media with upgraded fine-bubble aeration systems. Performance data collected showed very promising results in terms of five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), ammonia (NH₃) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal. Two-year average ammonia effluents were 4.1 mg·L^-1 for Columbia WWTP, 4 mg·L^-1 for Larchmont WWTP and 2.1 mg·L^-1 for Laurelville WWTP, respectively. Two- year average BOD₅ effluents were 6.8, 4.9 and 2.7 mg·L^-1, and TSS effluents were 15.0, 9.6 and 7.5 mg·L^-1. The systems also showed low fecal coliform (FC) levels in their effluents.

Keywords

wastewater lagoons / wastewater biological treatment / ammonia removal / high surface area media / fine bubble aeration

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Acknowledgements

The micro-scale photos were taken by Roderick J. McNeil. The authors also would like to appreciate the help from Mr. Morris Linnemann, Columbia WWTP Superintendent and operators at Larchmont and Laurelville WWTPs.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg