Aquacultural Engineering 24 (2001) 289 299 www.elsevier.

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Determining design parameters for recovery of aquaculture wastewater using sand beds
G.L. Palacios, M.B. Timmons *
Department of Biological and En6ironmental Engineering, Cornell Uni6ersity, Riley Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 -5701, USA Received 10 October 2000; accepted 31 March 2001

Abstract Design information for the use of sand beds to remove suspended solids from wastewater discharged from recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) was developed. Wastewater from a commercial RAS tilapia farm with 2% total solids and 1.6% total suspended solids (TSS) was applied to sand columns to determine inltration rates and phosphorus capture. Various hydraulic loading rates and drying periods between application events were evaluated. Inltration rates stabilized after ve application events to 3.5 cm/day (S.D. = 1.7). Practically, all suspended solids were captured at the top of the columns, creating the primary resistance to inltration. Concrete sand removed approximately 93% of the soluble phosphorous in the wastewater and wollastonite, an economical aggregate alternative to sand, removed at least 98%. A modied Darcy equation is presented to predict inltration based upon TSS and the number of sequential applications. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Inltration; Sand bed; Tilapia; Manure; Phosphorus; Solids; Darcy equation

1. Introduction Water and land availability constraints have created a growing interest in recirculating systems in aquaculture. In order to maximize efciency and be truly site-independent, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are being designed to discharge as little water as possible each day. Currently, many of these facilities
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1-607-2551630; fax: +1-607-2554080. E-mail address: mbt3@cornell.edu (M.B. Timmons). 0144-8609/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0144-8609(01)00070-X

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replace less than 10% per day of the total water in the system (Kristiansen and Cripps, 1996; Twarowska et al., 1997). One way to reduce water loss from a recirculating aquaculture facility would be to reclaim this efuent discharge after the suspended solids have been removed. Handling wastewater is a major problem in all animal agriculture systems, but there are substantial differences between aquaculture wastewater and manure from hog or dairy systems. The latter are typically in the range of 515% suspended solids, while sh wastewater can be anywhere from 0.2 to 4.0% suspended solids (Bergheim et al., 1993; Kristiansen and Cripps, 1996; Twarowska et al., 1997). Typical suspended solids concentrations from drum lters used in intensive aquaculture operations are around 0.5% (personal communication, Mr. Glenn Snapp, Water Management Technologies, Baton Rouge, LA). Waste production from aquaculture systems will be from 0.2 to 0.5 kg of waste per kg of feed fed (Drennan et al., 1995; Chen et al., 1997); thus, water usage rates can be quickly estimated from RAS. Suspended solids are captured in a variety of ways, but primarily rely on straining, settling or a combination of these techniques (Drennan et al., 1995). These systems are reasonably effective for removing suspended solids from the culture water, but rely on periodic ushing of the device to maintain removal efciency between ushings. Flushing waters must be replaced with clean or new makeup water. Sand beds have been used in a variety of ways to treat wastewaters. Since the footprint of a sand bed will be inversely proportional to its hydraulic conductivity, ways to increase hydraulic conductivity are also common. Using coarse sands and aggregates with subsurface drainage to remove inltrate to prevent water accumulation will increase or maintain a beds hydraulic conductivity. Hydraulic conductivity, or the coefcient of permeability, is the standard measure of how quickly water ows through a soil column. Hydraulic conductivity depends upon the intrinsic permeability of a given medium as well as the unit weight and viscosity of the permeant liquid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity can be determined using Darcys law as follows (Ritzema, 1994): Q DH = Ks . (1) A L Sand beds may also incorporate marsh plants, such as phragmites, to sustain the hydraulic conductivity. Also, removing such plants on a scheduled basis will also serve to remove nutrients from the wastewater: nitrogen 225 kg/ha per year, phosphorus 35 kg/ha per year (Ritzema, 1994; Kadlec and Knight, 1996). Other methods to increase nutrient removal include the use of alternate aggregate materials such as wollastonite, a calcium metasilicate (CaSiO3). Wollastonite is a common material used in several industrial applications whose renement produces a waste aggregate or tailing that is available usually for no cost at the renement plant. Wollastonite has been shown to enhance phosphorus removal when it is used as sand medium replacement (Brooks et al., 2000). Stuanes (1984) reviews the sorption/desorption processes involved in phosphorus removal as affected by aggregate material.

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Sand bed drainage systems enhanced with plant cover crops have been used for a variety of applications including at least one commercial sh farm in Amherst, MA (Bioshelters, Mr. John Reid President, a 200000 kg/year tilapia farm) and have been described in detail by others (Ritzema, 1994; Sanford et al., 1995; Kadlec and Knight, 1996). The construction and maintenance of a sand bed system for sh wastewater is expected to be similar to a treatment wetland described by Summerfelt et al. (1999) for treating trout wastewater. Summerfelt et al. (1999) applied trout wastewater (7800 mg/l total suspended solids, TSS) six times per day at a rate of 1.35 cm/day (30 kg dry solids per m2/year). Other references report much higher hydraulic loading rates: 25 cm/day (Kadlec and Knight, 1996); 80240 cm/day (Outwater, 1994); and 2000 2700 cm/day (Reed, 1990). Unfortunately, there is still very little information currently available on two critical parameters for designing a sand bed system for reclaiming sh wastewater: design inltration rate and wet/dry cycle time. The design inltration rate refers to the speed that water will ow through the lter medium. Inltration rates will rapidly decrease as biosolids accumulate. The volume of wastewater that can be applied at any given time and the amount of time between applications must be determined before a sand bed system can be designed. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine basic parameters needed to design a sand bed inltration system to recover aquaculture wastewater.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Sand columns and lter mediums

A coarse concrete sand was selected as the lter medium (D10 = 0.6 mm; D50 =0.6 mm; Cu =4.1 and Cc =0.95). This sand was chosen since it is readily available at low cost and is therefore, a likely choice for commercial application to large sand beds. Wollastonite (CaSiO3), which is similar in appearance and texture to ground limestone, was used as an alternate medium to the sand. Preliminary testing using clean water and a range of column diameters (10, 15 and 29 cm) showed no relationship between column diameter and hydraulic conductivity. Thus, we selected the 15 cm diameter columns for convenience and constructed 27 columns in total. Columns were 1.5 m in height and lled with 15 cm of coarse gravel (0.5 cm diameter), 30 cm of lter sand or wollastonite. A solid bottom piece was used drilled with 1 cm holes to retain the sand and rock medium, while creating minimal resistance to water ow. The experimental arrangement is depicted in Fig. 1.

2.2. Wastewater characteristics and experimental protocol

Fish manure was obtained from a local commercial tilapia farm using RAS and employing approximately a 10% system volume exchange rate per day. The farm fed a 42% protein 12% fat feed; feed conversions at the farm were approximately 1

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to 1. The tilapia sh manure was collected from a settling pit and thoroughly mixed by gentle stirring so as to not break up the feces or solids beyond what had already occurred at the farm. Three samples of approximately 100 ml each were collected, weighed, and dried in an oven at 43C for 24 h. The samples were then weighed again and concentration of total solids (TS) were determined by weight. An average was calculated from the three samples and this was taken to be representative of the TS in the entire batch. This manure was then diluted with tap water to the desired 2% TS concentration by weight. Only TS were directly measured. TS include total dissolved solids (TDS) and TSS. TSS refers to the larger, typically organic solids in aquaculture. The TSS concentration of the wastewater applied after being diluted to the 2% TS was approximately 16 g/l, determined using a 0.4 m lter and vacuum pump (APHA, 1989). Six wastewater samples were collected from the commercial farm facility on the same day and tested for TDS (APHA, 1989). The average concentration of TDS was 3.8 g/l (or 0.38%). Because the sand lters remove most of the TSS, the concentration of TDS applied to the columns can be assumed to be approximately equal to that in the ltrate. Some of these dissolved solids ( 1.49 g/l) entered the farm system water via the well water used at the farm as makeup waters. Additional dissolved solids accumulated in the sh tank waters while

Fig. 1. Schematic of sand column showing orientation of coarse gravel, sand or wollastonite, accumulating biosolid waste, and the different depths of wastewater applied per application event, i.e. A =0.75, B =0.50 and C = 0.25 m.

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being recirculated in the system as is true for all RAS. Since the farm was operating at a steady-state feeding level and practiced a consistent water exchange rate, we assumed that the ratio of TSS to TDS was constant over the course of our study. Each experiment consisted of three drying periods (2, 4 and 8 days) and three application volumes or depth of wastewater (0.75, 0.50 or 0.25 m) above the lter medium and three columns were built for each experimental condition of drying period or wastewater depth application (27 columns in total). Average inltration rate was calculated by dividing the volume of water applied by the time from application until no water was visible above the surface of the sand. Each experimental condition was conducted in triplicate except that the third replicate column was packed with wollastonite instead of sand (considered the third replication but in effect was a separate variable with a single replication but had the same number of treatments for application height and drying days between events). Three treatment volumes of wastewater corresponding to a specic depth were chosen: 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 m. The mixed wastewater was poured into the appropriate column in a batch method (that is the entire volume was applied at once) with care to not disturb the surface of the sand column. The columns were observed until there was no more standing water. At this point, inltration rate was calculated. The next application of wastewater was then made 2, 4 or 8 days later. After the fth application of wastewater, several of the columns were reconditioned in an attempt to restore hydraulic conductivity. Three reconditioning treatments were investigated: removal of the settled solids layer without disturbing the underlying sand; removal of the accumulated solids along with the top 5 cm of sand; and puncturing the dried, accumulated settled solids and the upper part of the sand layer with a small screw driver. Once the wastewater had drained through a sand column, the ltrate was stirred for 1 min and a sample was collected, weighed, and dried in an oven at 43C for 24 h. The sample was weighed again and a percent solids value was determined by weight. Similarly, 200 ml samples were taken for phosphorus analysis. All samples were ltered to remove any suspended solids. The ascorbic acid method (APHA, 1989) for soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was used to determine concentration of the inuents and efuents of the columns. SRP includes orthophosphate and any polyphosphates that are hydrolyzed in the analysis.

2.3. Hydraulic conducti6ity

A sample of the concrete sand used in the columns was tested for hydraulic conductivity using Eq. (1) and the ow induction method described by Ritzema (1994). Once the sample was saturated, various ow rates were applied and the changes in head associated with them were recorded. The ow rate was divided by the area of the sample (Q/A) and graphed versus the hydraulic gradient (DH/L). The slope of the regression line is the saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks.

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Fig. 2. Inltration rates for all columns after successive application events for the undisturbed sand columns (", undisturbed) and after reconditioning by either breaking up the accumulated biosolids layer ( , break), removing the biosolids layer completely (
, remove), or a combination of both removing the accumulated biosolids and disturbing the upper part of the sand column ( , break and remove); arrow indicates where columns were reconditioned.

3. Results

3.1. Inltration rate and manure solids accumulation

The inltration rates became fairly uniform from the third application onward for all treatments. A representative result is given in Fig. 2 (2 days drying times between applications for the three application depths). Each data point on these gures represents the average of all three columns (replications). The average inltration rate after ve applications was 3.5 cm/day (S.D.= 1.7; Fig. 3). There was no difference in hydraulic conductivity between the sand or wollastonite columns (PB 0.01). The change in hydraulic conductivity after the three different reconditioning methods were applied to selected columns is also shown in Fig. 3. The column that received both treatments had an increased inltration rate from 6 to 25 cm/day (this column also had the highest initial inltration of 43 cm/day after the rst application). The other columns showed varying recoveries, but all were several fold higher than their respective inltration rates after the rst ve applications. Simply disturbing the interface allowed one column to remain above 10 cm/day after eight applications (three added applications after breaking up the interface). The average inltration rate after reconditioning was 12.4 cm/day (S.D. = 6.0), compared to 3.5 cm/day (S.D.= 1.7) after the fth application, as noted previously.

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3.2. Conducti6ity tests

The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the concrete sand was determined by regression analysis to be Ks =627 m/day (S.D.= 8.2; R 2 = 0.98). The same test was performed on a sample of the settled solids taken from column IB4 after ve applications of wastewater. Due to the much more restrictive nature of this material, only a very narrow range of hydraulic gradients could be tested (0.08 0.17 m/m). There was no correlation between hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic gradient over this range of tests; thus, the Ks value could not be determined directly from these data. The average inltration rate measured during these tests for nine samples was 0.24 m/day (S.D. = 0.05). If the same hydraulic loading value of 0.14 m/m (DH/L) is used to predict the inltration for the sand, the predicted inltration is 88 m/day, which is approximately 400 times more conductive than the sh manure sludge layer at the same hydraulic gradient value.

3.3. Total solids concentration in ltrate

The concentration of TS in the ltrate was determined for each column throughout the experiment. The average TS concentration after passing through the sand columns was 0.27% (S.D.=0.08). There was a gradual upward trend in the data. The TS, which ranged from 0.1 to 0.5%, reect almost entirely dissolved solids. TSS was estimated to be less than 0.001% (less than 10 mg/l). The upward trend is attributed to biological activity in the sludge and sand column. No volatile solids tests were conducted to conrm this.

Fig. 3. Example of measured average inltration rates for different depths of wastewater applied (A= 0.75, B = 0.5 and C =0.25 m) by number of application events with a 2-day drying period between events.

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Fig. 4. Comparison of SRP removal using either sand (

) or wollastonite (

) granular lter mediums.

3.4. Soluble reacti6e phosphorus concentration in ltrate

The concentrations of SRP (mg/l) in the wastewater applied was 98 mg/l (S.D. = 10 mg/l). After three applications of wastewater, the loading was approximately 5000 g of phosphorus per m3 of medium. The percent removal for the sand and the wollastonite columns is shown in Fig. 4. Both column media removed the phosphorus quite effectively, but the wollastonite was consistently superior with removals above 98%. There was a slight downward trend in percent SRP removal in the sand columns after three applications, but the trend was not signicant (90% condence). There was no loss of sorption capacity in the wollastonite after three applications suggesting much larger SRP removal capacity.

4. Discussion

4.1. Inltration rate

As the solids accumulate on the surface of the lter, the driving force for inltration is the ratio of the height of water above the manure layer to the thickness of that manure layer. Thus, in columns that have received the same amount of solids, the inltration rate will depend primarily upon the height of water applied, since the sh manure solids settle quickly and form the primary resistance to ow. Once the sh manure settles, which is much before the water drains from the column, the newly settled sh manure increases resistance to ow for the current application event. This is demonstrated in Table 1 where the inltration rate in Columns A after one application of 0.75 m of wastewater is

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compared to the inltration rates in Columns C after three applications of 0.25 m of wastewater, i.e. the same amount of solids have been applied in the two columns. The ratio of the average inltration rates measured was 3.5, which is similar to the ratio of the hydraulic gradients imposed (0.75 to 0.25 m or a ratio of 3). From visual inspection, the biosolids layer accumulating from the wastewater was 10% by volume of the wastewater applied (or 0.10 m per meter of 2% wastewater applied; TSS 16 g/l). After complete settling and water drainage through the column, the settled solids layer compacted to 0.05 m/m of wastewater applied. For example, an organic layer about 0.05 m deep accumulated in columns of group B (0.5 m of wastewater applied per application) after two applications of 2% wastewater. This value can be used to estimate sludge depths that will be collected over time from successive applications, which will be proportional to the TSS concentration in the wastewater.

4.2. Predicti6e equation

Inltration rates can be predicted from the data shown in Fig. 2 by expressing the number of applications and the associated manure solids as the hydraulic gradient term (DH/L) in Eq. (1) as follows: DH Y/2 = . L NYi (2)

Regressing the data gave a Ks value of 2.44 m/day (S.D.=0.18; R 2 = 0.67, PB 0.00001). Eq. (1) is easy to apply and can be adapted to various TSS loading levels. In the wastewater used in these experiments, the TSS was 16 g/l and it is these biosolids that solely contribute to the resistance layer on the top of the sand column. For tilapia sh manure, the thickness of the manure layer can be estimated per application event as follows: L= CTSS iD, 16 (3)

Table 1 Comparison of inltration rates (cm/day) for two Columns (A and C) having received the same amount of solids loadinga Dry down period (days) 2 4 8 Average
a

A (0.75 m/event) after 1 application 18.7 16.7 10.8 15.4

C (0.25 m/event) after 3 applications 4.0 6.7 3.3 4.7

Ratio A to C

4.7 2.5 3.3 3.5

Column A receives 0.75 m and Column C receives 0.25 m of wastewater per application event, respectively.

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where i is 0.05 m/m (based upon using tilapia wastewater with a TSS of 16 g/l). Total manure depth is then the summation of these applications. The estimate of total L using Eq. (3) can be used in Eq. (1) along with the Ks value of 2.44 m/day to predict inltration rate. Note that the Ks value was specically developed from tilapia feces and thus may be different for other sh manures. The lter medium is not expected to have any signicant impact on estimating inltration rates, since the Ks for the sand type medium is much greater than the Ks for the manure.

4.3. Restoring conducti6ity and managing beds

It is quite evident from Fig. 3 that all the reconditioning methods made substantial improvements in the inltration rates for subsequent wastewater applications. The most important nding from this experiment is that a comparable improvement in inltration rate was achieved by simply disturbing the interface layer, which would be relatively easy and inexpensive to implement for commercial conditions. Judicious selection of the drying period length between applications would be important to permit exibility in managing this activity. Treatment wetlands are often divided into smaller beds that are easier to manage. These could be run in parallel to better handle variable discharge volumes by only ooding the necessary area, or to ensure that treatment is not completely interrupted if one of the beds needed servicing. Alternatively, beds could be operated in series to achieve more complete treatment of the wastewater. For example, the ltrate from a bed using concrete sand could ow down-slope to a similarly sized bed with wollastonite as the substrate for further phosphorus removal. Note that use of Eqs. (1) and (3) to predict inltration rate is probably a conservative estimate since the rate equation is for sand columns without any surface vegetation. Use of phragmites or other emergent type monocot herbs would provide some continual disruption of the sand column due to root and shoot growth and probably to the manure surface layer as well. As demonstrated in the reconditioning tests with the sand columns, all disturbances caused large increases in inltration. Thus, the use of plants would be anticipated to produce some positive effect on maintaining a sustained inltration rate.

Acknowledgements For their help on this project report, the authors thank Prof. T. Steenhuis and Dr. Arik Heilig, for sharing their experience and helping to organize the results of this study.

Appendix A. Nomenclature R2 coefcient of determination (dimensionless)

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A CTSS D Ks L N Q Y i DH

cross-sectional area (cm2) TSS concentration of wastewater being applied (mg/l) cumulative depth of wastewater applied (m) saturated hydraulic conductivity (cm/day) depth of manure layer or material providing the resistance to ow (m) number of applications of wastewater volumetric ow rate (cm3/day) depth of wastewater applied per application event (m) constant used to estimate accumulation rate of manure per unit of wastewater applied (m/m) average hydraulic load imposed per application event (1/2 of treatment depth; m)

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