Study on the treatment of black and odorous water bodies by aeration combined with sulfur-iron autotrophic denitrification MBBR

Abstract

ABSTRACT As China's economy grows rapidly, there is a growing problem of rural water pollution, particularly regarding black and odorous water bodies. However, the current treatment technologies have proven inadequate in both nitrogen and phosphorus removal, primarily due to the insufficient carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in these black and odorous water bodies, resulting in low nitrogen removal efficiency. To address this challenge, the study proposes a novel treatment process, namely ‘aeration + sulfur-iron autotrophic denitrification MBBR’. This innovative approach was compared with the traditional ‘aeration + MBBR’ treatment process and blank control group over an 18-day experimental period. Ten water quality indicators were monitored and compared, including odor, turbidity, DO, pH, COD, BOD5, NH3-N, NO3-N, TN, and TP. The results revealed satisfactory performance of both treatment processes in terms of odor, turbidity, DO, COD, BOD5, and NH3-N indicators. However, significant disparities were observed in denitrification and phosphorus removal, with the new process achieving removal rates of 85.65 and 78.02%, respectively, compared to −2.30 and −4.05% for the existing process. Furthermore, the new process met the surface water class IV quality standard for all 10 monitored indicators, indicating its potential for effectively addressing the issue of black and odorous water in rural China.