Stimulating Nitrogen Biokinetics with the Addition of Hydrogen Peroxide to Secondary Effluent Biofiltration

Liron Friedman, Hadas Mamane, Kartik Chandran, Martin Jekel, Haim Cikurel, Uwe Hübner, Michael Elgart, Shlomi Dagan, Jorge Santo-Domingo and Dror Avisar
Additional contact information
Liron Friedman: The Water Research Center, School of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
Hadas Mamane: School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
Kartik Chandran: Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 4711, USA
Martin Jekel: Department of Water Quality Control, Technical University of Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Haim Cikurel: Environmental Services, consultant, Bat-Yam 59555, Israel
Uwe Hübner: Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany
Michael Elgart: Weizmann Institute of Science, Molecular cell biology, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Shlomi Dagan: Weizmann Institute of Science, Molecular cell biology, Rehovot 76100, Israel
Jorge Santo-Domingo: US Environmental Protection Agency; National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
Dror Avisar: The Water Research Center, School of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

Clean Technol., 2020, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Tertiary wastewater treatment could provide a reliable source of water for reuse. Amongst these types of wastewater treatment, deep-bed filtration of secondary effluents can effectively remove particles and organic matter; however, NH 4 + and NO 2 − are not easily removed. This study examined the feasibility of stimulating microbial activity using hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as a bio-specific and clean oxygen source that leaves no residuals in the water and is advantageous upon aeration due to the solubility limitations of the oxygen. The performance of a pilot bio-filtration system at a filtration velocity of 5–6 m/h, was enhanced by the addition of H 2 O 2 for particle, organic matter, NH 4 + , and NO 2 − removal. Hydrogen peroxide provided the oxygen demand for full nitrification. As a result, influent concentrations of 4.2 ± 2.5 mg/L N-NH 4 + and 0.65 ± 0.4 mg/L N-NO 2 were removed during the short hydraulic residence time (HRT). In comparison, filtration without H 2 O 2 addition only removed up to 0.6 mg/L N-NH 4 + and almost no N-NO 2 − . A DNA metagenome analysis of the functional genes of the media biomass reflected a significant potential for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification activity. It is hypothesized that the low biodegradability of the organic carbon and H 2 O 2 addition stimulated oxygen utilization in favor of nitrification, followed by the enhancement of anoxic activity.

Keywords: hydrogen peroxide; high-rate biofiltration; nitrification; denitrification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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