The great diurnal variation in the quality of wastewater of small communities is an obstacle to the efficient removal of high nitrogen with traditional activated sludge processes provided by pre-denitrification. To verify this problem, the authors developed a pilot plant, in which the domestic wastewater of community of 15,000 inhabitants was treated. The results demonstrate that average and peak nitrogen removal efficiencies of over 60% and 70%, respectively, are difficult to obtain because of the strong variations in the BOD₅/NO₃-N ratios and the unexpected abnormal accumulation of dissolved oxygen during denitrification when the BOD₅ load is low. These phenomena cause inhibitory effects and BOD₅ deficiency in the denitrification process. The results demonstrate the need for a more complex approach to designing and managing small wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provided with denitrification than those usually adopted for medium- and large-size plants.

Pollution control of surface water bodies requires stringent checks on wastewater treatment plants performances. The satisfactory operation of biological treatment, commonly performed by means of activated sludge processes, requires a number of controlling and monitoring procedures. Suitable respirometric techniques for the determination of the kinetic parameters that regulate biological processes have been implemented in order to achieve this aim. This paper describes the results of an experimental research carried out in a conventional Italian municipal wastewater treatment plant. Particularly, the research has been finalized to both evaluate the biological process for the removal of biodegradable pollutants, such as carbonaceous substrates and ammonia nitrogen, and to collect data in order to evaluate a possible plant upgrade. Heterotrophic and autotrophic biomass kinetic parameters have been examined using respirometric techniques based on oxygen uptake measurements. The research performed makes a valuable contribution toward verifying the reliability of the values proposed in the literature for some kinetic parameters, which have been commonly used for a long time.

Membrane Bio Reactors (MBRs) are mainly used for industrial wastewaters applications where their costs can be more easily afforded. High costs are basically due to energy consumption and membrane cleaning or replacement. Membrane fouling is responsible for reducing treated water production and increasing maintenance as well as operation costs. According to previous researches, the addition of Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) in high dosages could reduce membrane fouling; but such concentrations are economically unsustainable for operative conditions. A MBR pilot plant, fed by mixed liquor of a full-scale activated sludge process from a municipal wastewater treatment plant, was operated dosing low PAC concentrations (0, 2, 5, 10 and 20 mg·L⁻¹, respectively). Experiments were also carried out at two different temperatures corresponding to summer and winter conditions. Results indicated that PAC addition was effective at the low dosages (2 and 5 mg·L⁻¹) by reducing the permeate flux loss (from 16 up to 27%, respectively) while higher PAC concentrations turns out in a useless cost increase.

The paper presents the results of an experimental process designed for the treatment of the sewage generated by a rural community located in the north-east of Brazil. The process consists of a preliminary mechanical treatment adopting coarse screens and grit traps, followed by a biological treatment in a UASB reactor and a sub-surface horizontal flow phytodepuration step. The use of a UASB reactor equipped with a top cover, as well as of the phytodepuration process employing a porous medium, showed to present important health advantages. In particular, there were no significant odor emissions and there was no evidence of the proliferation of insects and other disease vectors. The plant achieved the following mean abatement efficiencies: 92.9% for BOD₅, 79.2% for COD and 94% for Suspended Solids. With regard to fecal indicators average efficiencies of 98.8% for fecal coliforms and 97.9% for fecal enterococci were achieved. The UASB reactor showed an important role in achieving this result. The research was also aimed at evaluating the optimal operating conditions for the UASB reactor in terms of hydraulic load and organic volumetric loading. The achieved results hence indicated that the process may be highly effective for small rural communities in tropical and sub-tropical areas.

The presence of dissolved oxygen (DO) in biological denitrification reactors determines inhibition effects on the denitrification rate. The article shows the results of an experimental study to control the DO concentration in the pre-denitrification stage by a post-anoxic reactor. The results demonstrate that the post-anoxic reactor is very effective in improving the nitrogen removal efficiency because it causes a considerable reduction of the DO content in the mixed liquor recycle sent to the pre-denitrification reactor. This reduction is influenced by both the retention time and the F:M ratio (referred to the denitrification and the oxidation-nitrification volume). In fact, a retention time and a F:M ratio equal to 1.5 h and 0.130 kgBOD₅ kgMLVSS⁻¹·day⁻¹, respectively, allow to limit DO in the post-anoxic reactor at 0.31 mgO₂·L⁻¹. Such concentration determines a DO concentration of 0.11 mgO₂·L⁻¹ in the pre-denitrification reactor and, consequently, a denitrification efficiency of 91%. Moreover, the contribution of the endogenous denitrification to the whole denitrification efficiency was found negligible. The paper contributes to the progress in nitrogen removal from sewage, a fundamental issue for a sustainable management of water resources.

This paper reports the results of two sewage treatment tests in a community of 15,000 inhabitants. The sewage treatment plant is subject to strong fluctuations in load (BOD₅, COD, TKN), and in particular in the BOD₅/TKN ratio. These fluctuations adversely affect the biological denitrification, as demonstrated by many pilot and real-scale plants. The plants we tested were subjected to two treatment types: anoxic-aerobic and simultaneous denitrification. Both processes are designed for complete mixing conditions in the reactors in order to level the fluctuations in the load and thus improve the denitrification efficiency. The results prove that an average denitrification efficiency of up to 80% can be achieved with the sludge loading close to 0.1 kg BOD₅ (d∙kgMLVSS)⁻¹. The effect of the sludge loading and dissolved oxygen on the denitrification efficiency is highlighted.