Impact of Raw Water Ammonia on the Surface Water Treatment Processes and Its Removal by Nitrification

Abstract

Impact of raw water ammonia on the treated water quality and removal of ammonia from surface water were studied. Raw water ammonia and physicochemical quality of treated water of Saidabad Water Treatment Plant were analyzed for the period of one year (January through December 2006). The monthly averages of maximum (7.55 mg/l) and minimum (0.34 mg/l) ammonia-N level of the raw water were recorded in March and September 2006 respectively. During dry season raw water containing high concentration of ammonia reacted with chlorine at pre-chlorination step of treatment processes and disrupted the total treatment system. It was found from the study that when the concentration of ammonia was high in raw water the aesthetic characters such as turbidity, colour, taste, odour, alkalinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), conductivity, total chlorine etc. of the treated water were changed significantly. Chemical consumption is increased as a result water treatment costs is increased. To mitigate the above problems of the treated water nitrification was used for the removal of ammonia from raw water. Ammonia removal rate was monitored with some other water quality parameters during the study. In the nitrification process ammonia was removed from raw water very effectively, i.e., maximum about 98% raw water ammonia was removed during the study. Additionally other water quality factors were improved significantly.Keywords: Raw water, Treated water, Raw water ammonia, Water quality, NitrificationDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjm.v24i2.1249 Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 24, Number 2, December 2007, pp 85-89