Malt house wastewater treatment with settleable algal-bacterial flocs.

This paper deals with biological treatment of malt house wastewater using algal-bacterial flocs. During three months of testing, optimisation of growth conditions and biomass separation leads to maximisation of biomass production, improved flocs settleability and increased pollutant removal efficiency while maintaining low energy demand. At a high food to microorganism ratio (0.16 to 0.29 kg BOD5 kg(-1) TSS d(-1)), the biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), total phosphorus (Ptot) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal efficiencies were all higher than 90%. At a food to microorganism ratio of 0.06 kg BOD5 kg(-1) TSS d(-1), BOD5, CODCr, total nitrogen (Ntot), Ptot and TSS removal efficiencies of 99.5%, 97.6%, 91.5%, 97.8% and 98.4%, respectively, were achieved. The study also proved a strong dependence of removal efficiencies on solar radiation. The results suggest the algae-bacteria system is suitable for treatment of similar wastewater in locations with available land and sufficient solar radiation and temperature during the whole year.

A pilot scale comparison of advanced oxidation processes for estrogenic hormone removal from municipal wastewater effluent.

This study investigates the oxidation of selected endocrine disrupting compounds (estrone, 17ß-estradiol, estriol and 17α-ethinylestradiol) during ozonation and advanced oxidation of biologically treated municipal wastewater effluents in a pilot scale. Selected estrogenic substances were spiked in the treated wastewater at levels ranging from 1.65 to 3.59 µg · L(-1). All estrogens were removed by ozonation by more than 99% at ozone doses ≥1.8 mg · L(-1). At a dose of 4.4 · mg L(-1) ozonation reduced concentrations of estrone, 17ß-estradiol, estriol and 17α-ethinylestradiol by 99.8, 99.7, 99.9 and 99.7%, respectively. All tested advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) achieved high removal rates but they were slightly lower compared to ozonation. The lower removal rates for all tested advanced oxidation processes are caused by the presence of naturally occurring hydroxyl radical scavengers - carbonates and bicarbonates.