Struvite production using membrane-bioreactor wastewater effluent and seawater

Abstract

Wastewater phosphorus (P) released into natural water bodies such as lakes and rivers, can cause water pollution as a result of eutrophication. If this P is effectively removed from wastewaters and economically recovered for use as fertilisers, not only can the water pollution be controlled, but also reduce the anticipated global shortage of P. This scarcity will result from the natural phosphate rock reserve being exhausted. Three experiments were conducted using membrane-bioreactor effluent (MBR, 35 mg PO4/L) and reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC, 10 mg PO4/L) waters to supply phosphate, and sea water (1530 mg Mg/L) to supply Mg for the production of struvite. The phosphate in the MBR and ROC was concentrated approximately 15 times by adsorption onto an ion exchange resin column followed by desorption. Struvite was precipitated by mixing the desorbed solution with seawater and NH4Cl. The chemical composition and mineral structure of the precipitates agreed with those of the reference struvite. When Ca in seawater (300 mg Ca/L) was removed before mixing the water with MBR or ROC, the purity of the struvite improved.