Efficiency and effectiveness of systems for the treatment of domestic wastewater based on subsurface flow constructed wetlands in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic

Constructed wetlands(CwW)are well known nature-based systems for water treatment.This study evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of seven domestic wastewater treatment systems based on horizontal flow CWs in Jarabacoa,the Dominican Republic.The results showed that the CWs were efficient in reducing the degree of contamination of wastewater to levels below the Dominican wastewater discharge standards for parameters such as the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand(BOD5)and chemical oxygen demand,but not for the removal of phosphorus and fecal coliforms.In addition,a horizontal flow subsurface wetland in the peri-urban area El Dorado was evaluated in terms of the performance of wastewater treatment in tropical climatic conditions.The concentrations of heavy metals,such as zinc,copper,chromium,and iron,were found to decrease in the effluent of the wetland,and the concentrations for nickel and manganese tended to increase.The levels of heavy metals in the effluent were lower than the limit values of the Dominican wastewater discharge standards.The construction cost of these facilities was around 200 USD per population equivalent,similar to the cost in other countries in the same region.This study suggested some solutions to the improved performance of CWs:selection of a microbial flora that guarantees the reduction of nitrates and nitrites to molecular nitrogen,use of endemic plants that bioaccumulate heavy metals,combination of constructed wetlands with filtration on activated carbon,and inclusion of water purification processes that allow to evaluate the reuse of treated water.

Study on Purification Efficiency of Vertical Flow Wetlands on Domestic Wastewater

The combination method of intermittent influent and vertical flow wetlands （VFW） was used in the test to treat the domestic wastewater. Four artificial wetlands including Typha latifolia wetland,Phragmites australis （P.H.） wetland,polyculture wetlands （Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis） and non-vegetation wetland were established in the test. The effects of hydraulic retention time （HRT） and plant species on pollutants removal efficiencies were studied. The results showed that when HRT=7,the treatment efficiencies of wetlands with plants for the removal of TN and NH＋4-N were up to 99.65% and 99.58%,respectively. For the control wetland,TN removal efficiency was up to 87.9% when HRT were 6 days,and NH＋4-N removal efficiency was up to 91.8% when HRT were 5 days. TP removal efficiencies of four wetlands were higher than 93% when HRT was 6 days. Through the studies on different plants,it was found that vegetation wetlands had better nitrogen removal efficiency than non-vegetation wetland. The treatment efficacy of Phragmites australis wetland and polyculture wetland was better than Typha latifolia wetland.

RESEARCH ON MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR TREATING DOMESTIC WASTEWATER AND RELATED MECHANISMS

Experiments on treatment of domestic wastewater by membrane bioreactors were carried out.The results showed that this process could produce good quality effluent with low COD,turbidity and total count of bacteria.With intermittent operation and continuous aeration,the membrane flux was kept steady.The mechanisms of removing COD through membrane,the structure of membrane and filtration resistance were also discussed.

Engineering Study on the Treatment of Multi-soil-layering System on the Rural Domestic Wastewater in Taihu Basin

By combining with the actual situation in the rural area,the practical technology of domestic wastewater treatment which had the wide popularization value was developed in the rural area of Taihu Basin.Moreover,the multi-soil-layering system was used to treat the concentrated rural domestic wastewater,and the demonstration project was established in Fenshui Village,Yixing,Jiangsu.The result showed that the infrastructure and operating cost of system was low,and the treatment effect was good.The average removal ratios of COD,NH+4-N,TN,TP and SS were respectively 70%,83%,59%,76% and 94%.The quality of yielding water could reach Grade A standard of Pollutant Emission Standards in Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Nitrous oxide production during nitrogen removal from domestic wastewater in lab-scale sequencing batch reactor

The production of N2O during nitrogen removal from real domestic wastewater was investigated in a lab-scale aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactor with a working volume of 14 L. The results showed that the total N2O-N production reached higher than 1.87 mg/L, and up to 4% of removed nitrogen was converted into N20. In addition, N20 led to a much higher greenhouse effect than CO2 during aerobic reaction phase, this proved that N2O production could not be neglected. The N2O-N production during nitrification was 1.85mg/L, whereas, during denitrification, no N2O was produced, nitrification was the main source of N2O production during nitrogen removal. Furthermore, during denitrification, the dissolved N2O at the end of aeration was found to be further reduced to N2. Denitrification thus had the potential of controlling N2O production.

Partial Nitrification from Domestic Wastewater by Aeration Control at Ambient Temperature

The objective of this paper was to examine the feasibility of partial nitrification from raw domestic wastewater at ambient temperature by aeration control only. Airflow rate was selected as the sole operational parameter. A 14L sequencing batch reactor was operated at 23℃ for 8 months, with an input of domestic wastewater. There was a prolgrammed decrease of the airflow rate to 28L·h^-1, the corresponding average dissolved oxygen （DO） was 0.32mg·h^-1, and the average nitrite accumulation rate increased to 92.4% in 3 weeks. Subsequently, further increase in the airflow rate to 48L·h^-1 did not destroy the partial nitrification to nitrite, with average DO of 0.60mg·h^-1 and nitrite accumulating rate of 95.6%. The results showed that limited airflow rate to cause oxygen deficiency in the reactor would eventually induce only nitrification to nitrite and not further to nitrate and that this system showed relatively stability at higher airflow rate independent of pH and temperature. About 50% of influent total nitrogen was eliminated coupling with partial nitrification, taking the advantage of low DO during the reaction.

A novel approach to treat combined domestic wastewater and excess sludge in MBR

Domestic wastewater was treated by combined anaerobic biofilm aerobic membrane bioreactor(MBR) process, and part biomass in MBR was withdrawn to treat with ozone, then the ozonated sludge was returned to anaerobic inlet. In aerobic MBR, MLSS and DO were controlled at 3000—3500 mg/L and 0 8 mg/L respectively. Comparing the experimental results of two stages, it was noticed that ozonation did not affect the removal efficiency for organics but had a significant influence on the removals of NH 3 N and TN. During the ozonation period of two months, no excess sludge was wasted, and a zero sludge yield was obtained.

Effects of hydraulic retention time, temperature, and effluent recycling on efficiency of anaerobic filter in treating rural domestic wastewater

With rural population expansion and improvement of the socio-economic standard of living, treatment of rural domestic wastewater has rapidly become a major aspect of environmental concern. Selection of a suitable method for treatment of rural domestic wastewater depends on its efficiency, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness. This study investigated the effects of hydraulic retention time （HRT）, temperature, and effluent recycling on the treatment efficiency of an anaerobic filter （AF） reactor. The first round of experimental operations was run for three months with HRTs of one, two, and three days, temperatures of 18℃, 21℃, and 24℃, and no effluent recycling. The second round of experimental operations was conducted for another three months with HRTs of three and four days; temperatures of 30.67℃, 30.57℃, and 26.91 ℃ ; and three effluent recycling ratios of 1：1, 1：2, and 2：1. The first round of operations showed removal rates of 32% to 44% for COD, 30% to 35% for TN, 32% to 36% for NH4-N, 19% to 23% for NO3-N, and 12% to 22% for TE In the second round of operations, the removal rates varied from 75% to 81% for COD, 35% to 41% for TN, 31% to 39% for NH4-N, 30% to 34% for NO3-N, and 41% to 48% for TP. The average gas production rates were 6.72 L/d and 7.26 L/d for the first and second rounds of operations, respectively. The gas production rate increased in the second round of operations as a result of applied effluent recycling. The best removal efficiency was obtained for an optimum HRT of three days, a temperature of 30℃, and an effluent recycling ratio of 2：1. The results show that the removal efficiency of the AF reactor was affected by HRT, temperature, and effluent recycling.

Effects of Phosphorus Concentration on the Treatment of Domestic Wastewater by a Combination of Hydrolytic Acidification and Biological Aerated Filter Filled with Mussel Shells

The combination of hydrolytic acidification and biological aerated filter （BAF） filled with mussel shells was used to treat domestic wastewater, and the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand （COD）, ammonia nitrogen （NH3-N） and total phosphorus （TP） by the system were analyzed under different TP concentrations. When TP concentration ranged from 12.39 to 14.69 mg/L, the removal rate of COD was the best, over 90.92% ; as TP concentration varied from 2.26 to 2.61 mg/L, the removal rates of NH3-N and TP were the best, up to 100.00% and 76.38% respectively. The results show that it is feasible to use mussel shells as the media of BAF, and TP concentration has certain influence on the performance of the system dealing with domestic wastewater.

The Ability of Some Aquatic and Terrestrial Plants to Purify Domestic Wastewater

The study aimed to evaluate the ability of some terrestrial and aquatic plants for wastewater purification.Aquatic plants can remove pollutants from wastewater by consuming and accumulating various contaminants in different parts of plants.Different aquatic and terrestrial plants(Rosa sinensis,Typha latifolia,Ocimm bacilicum,Azolla pinnata,and Salvinia molesta)which have the ability to decrease water pollution were utilized in this study.The capability offive different species of plants was investigated by measuring chemical oxygen demand(COD),biological oxygen demand(BOD),electrical conductivity(EC),total dissolved solids(TDS),and pH of the medium.In this research,some aquatic and terrestrial plants were transplanted in wastewater plastic pots containing domestic wastewater with different ratios of 50%and 100%.Then,after 30 days,the physiological and biochemical parameters of plants were calculated to observe the effect of wastewater on plants.Results revealed higher chlorophyll and carotenoids in typha plants treated with 100%wastewater.The highest percentage of elimination in BOD(65%),COD(27%),TDS(72%),EC(83%),and pH(6.8%)was noted with the use of typha and azolla.Intriguingly,total soluble sugars,total free amino acids,and total proteins were found maximum in the hibiscus plant as compared to the other plants under 100%and 50%domestic wastewater treatment,while typha and ocimum showed lower values of these parameters irrespective of wastewater treatments.Moreover,the COD,BOD,TDS,EC,and pH trend was higher in 100%wastewater as compared to 50%wastewater.Taking into account the accumulation capacity of the tested plants especially typha can be efficiently used for the treatment of domestic wastewater.

Performances of lateral flow biological aerated filter in treating domestic wastewater

A new biological aerated filter?lateral flow biological aerated filter(LBAF) is developed. The effects of air/water ratio, hydraulic loading and the length of LBAF on pollutants removal efficiency are tested. The results show that under optimal technological conditions when hydraulic loading is 0.43 m3 m?2 h?1 and air/water ratio is 10:1, the average removal efficiencies of COD, SS, NH3-N, and TN reach 88.01%, 95.18%, 78.97% and 52.58%, respectively. An LBAF has a large pollutants handling capacity; is less liable to be blocked, and has a longer operation cycle in comparison with a traditional BAF.

Contaminant Removal of Domestic Wastewater by Constructed Wetlands： Effects of Plant Species

A comparative study of the efficiency of contaminant removal between five emergent plant species and between vegetated and unvegetated wetlands was conducted in small-scale （2.0 m×1.0 m×0.7 m, lengthxwidthxdepth） constructed wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment in order to evaluate the decontaminated effects of different wetland plants. There was generally a significant difference in the removal of total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP）, but no significant difference in the removal of organic matter between vegetated and unvegetated wetlands. Wetlands planted with Canna indica Linn., Pennisetum purpureum Schum., and Phragmites communis Trin. had generally higher removal rates for TN and TP than wetlands planted with other species. Plant growth and fine root （root diameter ≤ 3 mm） biomass were related to removal efficiency. Fine root biomass rather than the mass of the entire root system played an important role in wastewater treatment. Removal efficiency varied with season and plant growth. Wetlands vegetated by P. purpureum significantly outperformed wetlands with other plants in May and June, whereas wetlands vegetated by P. communis and C. indica demonstrated higher removal efficiency from August to December. These findings suggest that abundance of fine roots is an important factor to consider in selecting for highly effective wetland plants. It also suggested that a plant community consisting of multiple plant species with different seasonal growth patterns and root characteristics may be able to enhance wetland performance.

Advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in A^(2)O-BAF system treating low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater

A laboratory-scale anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process(A^(2)O)with a small aerobic zone and a bigger anoxic zone and biologic aerated filter(A^(2)O-BAF)system was operated to treat low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater.The A^(2)O process was employed mainly for organic matter and phosphorus removal,and for denitrification.The BAF was only used for nitrification which coupled with a settling tank Compared with a conventional A^(2)O process,the suspended activated sludge in this A^(2)OBAF process contained small quantities of nitrifier,but nitrification overwhelmingly conducted in BAF.So the system successfully avoided the contradiction in sludge retention time(SRT)between nitrifying bacteria and phosphorus accumulating organisms(PAOs).Denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms(DPAOs)played an important role in removing up to 91%of phosphorus along with nitrogen,which indicated that the suspended activated sludge process presented a good denitrifying phosphorus removal performance.The average removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand(COD),total nitrogen(TN),total phosphorus(TP),and NH_(4)^(+)-N were 85.56%,92.07%,81.24%and 98.7%respectively.The effluent quality consistently satisfied the national first level A effluent discharge standard of China.The average sludge volume index(SVI)was 85.4 mL·g^(-1)additionally,the volume ratio of anaerobic,anoxic and aerobic zone in A^(2)O process was also investigated,and the results demonstrated that the optimum value was 1:6:2.

Partial anammox achieved in full scale biofilm process for typical domestic wastewater treatment

The slow initiation of anammox for treating typical domestic wastewater and the relatively high footprint of wastewater treatment infrastructures are major concerns for practical wastewater treatment systems.Herein,a 300 m^(3)/d hybrid biofilm reactor(HBR)process was developed and operated with a short hydraulic retention time(HRT)of 8 h.The analysis of the bacterial community demonstrated that anammox were enriched in the anoxic zone of the HBR process.The percentage abundance of Candidatus Brocadia in the total bacterial community of the anoxic zone increased from 0 at Day 1 to 0.33%at Day 130 and then to 2.89%at Day 213.Based upon the activity of anammox bacteria,the removal of ammonia nitrogen(NH_(4)^(+)-N)in the anoxic zone was approximately 15%.This showed that the nitrogen transformation pathway was enhanced in the HBR system through partial anammox process in the anoxic zone.The final effluent contained 12 mg/L chemical oxygen demand(COD),0.662 mg/L NH_(4)^(+)-N,7.2 mg/L total nitrogen(TN),and 6 mg/L SS,indicating the effectiveness of the HBR process for treating real domestic wastewater.

Investigating the bacterial community and amoebae population in rural domestic wastewater reclamation for irrigation

Reclamation of domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation is viewed as a sustainable option to create an alternative water source and address water scarcity. Free-living amoebae（FLA）, which are amphizoic protozoa, are widely distributed in various environmental sources. The FLA could cause considerable environmental and health risks. However, little information is available on the risk of these protozoa. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility using rural domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation, and analyzed dynamic changes of the microbial community structure and FLA populations in raw and treated wastewater, as well as the phyllosphere and rhizosphere of lettuce production sites that were irrigated with different water sources. The bacterial community dynamics were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism（T-RFLP）. The bacterial community structures in the influent were similar to that in the effluent, while in some cases relative abundances varied significantly. The populations of Acanthamoeba spp. and Hartmannella vermiformis in the anaerobically treated wastewater were significantly higher than in the raw wastewater. The vegetables could harbor diverse amoebae, and the abundances of Acanthamoeba spp. and H. vermiformis in the rhizosphere were significantly higher than in the phyllosphere. Accordingly, our studies show insight into the distribution and dissemination of amoebae in wastewater treatment and irrigation practices.

The nitritation performance of biofilm reactor for treating domestic wastewater under high dissolved oxygen

The objective of this study was to investigate the nitritation performance in a biofilm reactor for treating domestic wastewater.The reactor was operated in continuous feed mode from phases 1 to 3.The dissolved oxygen（DO）was controlled at 3.5–7 mg/L throughout the experiment.The biofilm reactor showed excellent nitritation performance after the inoculation of nitrifying sludge,with the hydraulic retention time being reduced from 24 to 7 hr.Above 90%nitrite accumulation ratio（NAR）was maintained in phase 1.Afterwards,nitratation occurred with the low NH4^＋–N concentration in the reactor.The improvement of NH4^＋–N concentration to 20–35 mg/L had a limited effect on the recovery of nitritation.However,nitritation recovered rapidly when sequencing batch feed mode was adopted in phase 4,with the effluent NH4^＋-N concentration above 7 mg/L.The improvement of ammonia oxidizing bacteria（AOB）activity and the combined inhibition effect of free ammonia（FA）and free nitrous acid（FNA）on the nitrite oxidizing bacteria（NOB）were two key factors for the rapid recovery of nitritation.Sludge activity was obtained in batch tests.The results of batch tests had a good relationship with the long term operation performance of the biofilm reactor.

Optimization of phosphorus removal in uniFed SBR system for domestic wastewater treatment

The characteristic of phosphorus removal andappropriate change of the traditional operation modes wereinvestigated in UniFed sequencing batch reactor (SBR)laboratory-scale apparatus (40 L), treating actual domesticwastewater with low ratios of C/N (2.57) and C/P (30.18),providing theoretical basis for actual application ofwastewater treatment plant. UniFed SBR system with itsunique operation mode had the distinct superiority ofphosphorus removal. On this occasion, the effect ofvolumetric exchange ratio (VER) and the method ofinfluent introduction for phosphorus removal were studied.When the carbon source became the limiting factor tophosphorus release, the higher the VER, the lower thephosphorus concentration in the effluent. Three differentinfluent patterns, including one-time filling, four-timefilling, and continuous filling with the same quantity ofwastewater could increase the release rate of anaerobicphosphorus from 0.082 to 0.143 mg·P·(L·min)-1. Appropriatechange of the traditional operation modes couldoptimize the efficiency of phosphorus removal. When thefeed/ decant time was extended from 2 h to 4 h, thephosphorous removal efficiency increased from 59.93% to88.45% without any external carbon source. In the mode ofalternation of anoxic-aerobic (A/O) condition, phosphorousremoval efficiency increased from 55.07% to 72.27%clearly. The carbon source in the influent can be usedadequately, and denitrifying phosphorus removal wascarried out in anoxic stage 2 (A2). This mode was optimalfor the treatment of actual domestic wastewater with lowC/N and C/P ratios.

Improving biodegradation potential of domestic wastewater by manipulating the size distribution of organic matter

Carbon source is a critical constraint on nutrient removal in domestic wastewater treatment.However,the functions of particulate organic matter（POM） and some organics with high molecular weight（HMW） are overlooked in the conventional process,as they cannot be directly assimilated into cells during microbial metabolism.This further aggravates the problem of carbon source shortage and thus affects the effluent quality.Therefore,to better characterize organic matter（OM） based MW distribution,microfiltration/ultrafiltration/nanofiltration（MF/UF/NF） membranes were used in parallel to fractionate OM,which obtained seven fractions.Hydrolysis acidification（HA） was adopted to manipulate the MW distribution of dissolved organic matter（DOM） and further explore the correlation between molecular size and biodegradability.Results showed that HA pretreatment of wastewater not only promoted transformation from POM to DOM,but also boosted biodegradability.After 8 hr of HA,the concentration of dissolved organic carbon（DOC） increased by 65%,from the initial value of20.25 to 33.48 mg/L,and the biodegradability index（BOD5（biochemical oxygen demand）/SCOD（soluble chemical oxygen demand）） increased from 0.52 to 0.74.Using MW distribution analysis and composition optimization,a new understanding on the characteristics of organics in wastewater was obtained,which is of importance to solving low C/N wastewater treatment in engineering practice.

Performance of Submerged Membrane Bioreactor for Domestic Wastewater Treatment

In the present research, a submerged membrane bioreactor was tested to treat domestic wastewater. Three experimental runs were conducted all with a hydraulic retention time of 5h and sludge retention times (SRTs) of 5, 10, and 20 d. The pollutant removal performance of the membrane bioreactor, the membrane effluent quality, and a kinetic model for sludge growth in the bioreactor were investigated. The combined process was capable of removing over 90% of both COD (chemical oxygen demand) and NH 3 N on the average. The total removal for COD was almost independent of SRT, but that for NH 3 N improved with increasing SRT. Membrane effluent quality meets the water quality standard for reuse issued by the Ministry of Construction of China. Increasing SRT causes the concentrations of suspended solids (SS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) in the bioreactor to increase. However, the ratio of VSS/SS did not change much. Kinetic analysis showed that the sludge yield coefficient (kg VSS·kg COD -1 ) and the endogenous coefficient of microorganisms were 0.25 and 0.04d -1 , which are similar to those of the conventional activated sludge process.

Classification of contaminants and treatability evaluation of domestic wastewater

Long-term sampling and analysis were conducted in a domestic wastewater treatment plant for the investigation on the characteristics of the representative contaminants in raw sewage such as SS,COD,BOD5,TP,and TN.All these constituents were classified into dissolved and suspended groups by using a 0.45-μm membrane filter,and the concen-tration of each constituent in each group was analyzed.As a result,almost 100%of the SS was found to be suspended matter,as well as about 65% of COD,60% of BOD_(5),50% of P,and 20%of N.All these could be easily removed by sedimentation or coagulation/sedimentation.A treatability evaluation diagram was proposed for a rational selection of wastewater treatment process in accordance with raw water quality.