Sorptive Media Biofiltration for Inorganic Nitrogen Removal from Storm Water
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 5
Abstract
Passive biological filtration for nitrate removal from storm-water drainage is challenged by highly transient mass loadings, the need to adequately supply an electron donor, and potential inhibition by dissolved oxygen (DO). An approach to optimizing nitrate removal is to employ a filter medium containing a mixture of ion exchange and electron donor particles, where the former serve to retain nitrate at high loadings and enable biological denitrification to be more effective. Bench scale filtration experiments were conducted using a 50:50 volume mixture of expanded clay particles (Filtralite P) and elemental sulfur pastille. Nitrate reduction was 98% under steady flowrate operation at residence time and influent . Step increases in flowrate by factors of 5.2, 11, and 25 resulted in maximum effluent of 0.93, 1.54, and , respectively. Substantial nitrate breakthrough occurred even when effluent DO remained close to zero. The results suggest methods by which mixed media denitrification filters can be more effectively designed and operated.
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Acknowledgments
The writer is grateful to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Hillsborough County, Florida for sponsoring this work.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 5 • October 2008
Pages: 624 - 629
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 5, 2007
Accepted: Oct 29, 2007
Published online: Oct 1, 2008
Published in print: Oct 2008
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