Nitrogen Cycle

Nutrient Removal
• Removal of suspended solids & BOD from WW,
nutrients such as nitrogen & phosphorus are
commonly targeted for removal from WW.
• This is primarily because these nutrients can cause
eutrophication of receiving waters if they are not
removed from effluents. In addition, nitrogenous
organic matter can exert an oxygen demand in the
environment if discharged in effluents, thereby
contribution to the depletion oxygen in receiving
waters.
• There are also toxicity concerns with certain forms of
nitrogen (eg. Nitrate, ammonia)
 Nitrification & Denitrification
• Nitrification is the process of transforming the organic
nitrogen in WW to nitrate. This is carried out by
bacteria known as Nitrosomas.
• Nitrification process can be represented in a simplified
form as:
Organic N + O2→ NH3 + cells + CO2
NH3 + 2O2 → NO3 + H+ + cells
• pH of the WW can therefore be used as a process
monitor & in some cases bicarbonate may be needed
to keep the pH within the optimal range (pH 6.5-8) for
nitrification to continue to occur
 Denitrification
Organic C + NO3 → N2 + cells
▪ Denitrification is an anoxic process i.e. it doesn’t
require molecular oxygen to be present in the
water, although oxygen atoms are present within
the nitrate
▪ Denitrification process requires organic carbon,
therefore if the denitrification process is placed
after BOD removal & nitrification in series, a
carbon source may need to be re-introduced into
the water in order to achieve denitrification
▪ Methanol, acetate, & ethanol are commonly used
carbon source in such cases
 Phosphorus Removal
• Typically Phosphorus is present in concentration of
5-15 mg/l in domestic WW.
• 70% of which is in the form of soluble
polyphosphate, most of the remainder is in the
form of orthophosphate (HPO4, PO4).
• Conventional primary & secondary treatment
process remove approximately 10-30% of the
phosphorus in WW.
• This may not be sufficient to meet environmental
regulations, which often require phosphorus
concentration in effluent to be below 1 mg/l
 Disinfection
• Although not always a requirement
• WW treatment works often include a
disinfection step at the end of process i.e.
(after Secondary clarification).
• Disinfection may be included to protect
sensitive water
• Most commonly used disinfectants in WW
treatment are chlorination & Ultraviolet (UV)
disinfection.
 Chlorination
• Addition of either chlorine gas or sodium
hypochlorite solution into the WW in sufficient
quantities to overcome the chlorine demand of
the WW, & then allowing the chlorine residual to
remain in contact with the water for a set period
of time in a baffled chlorine tank.
• The chlorine residual is then normally eliminated
by a de-chlorination step prior to discharge of the
effluent, to prevent chlorine release into the
aquatic environment
• A drawback of chlorination is the formation of a
number of toxic chemical by-products due to the
reaction of the chlorine with organic compounds
in the WW.
 UV disinfection
• UV disinfection is a popular disinfection alternative in WW
treatment since it doesn’t require a contact tank, doesn’t
require a step to neutralize the active disinfecting agent (as in
dechlorinating) & produces few by-products compared to
chlorination.
• UV disinfection reactors are typically open channel, with the
water spending only seconds in contact with UV light.
• UV light is generated by mercury arc-discharging lamps which
are contained in quartz sleeves & oriented either
perpendicular/parallel to the flow.
• Suspended solids in the effluent can limit the performance of
both chemical & UV disinfection processes, by shielding
target pathogen from the disinfecting agent. This is why the
disinfection process is normally applied at the end of WW
treatment process when suspended solids concentration are
lowest.
3 Articles about Covid-19 pandemic
shared on MS-TEAM File section
1. Indirect effects of COVID-19 on the
environment
2. Does lockdown reduce air pollution?
Evidence from 44 cities in
northern China
3. Assessing air quality changes in large
cities during COVID-19 lockdowns:
The impacts of traffic-free urban conditions
in Almaty, Kazakhstan
 Piers Morgan furiously lets rip at new
horror flu virus in China amid
pandemic fears

PIERS Morgan shared his shock at the discovery

of a new threatening virus in China, which has
the potential to become a pandemic.
• By MANON DARK
• PUBLISHED: 01:59, Tue, Jun 30, 2020 |
UPDATED: 04:30, Tue, Jun 30, 2020