Biofilter Media Research Articles

Performance of Agricultural Wastes as A Biofilter Media for Low-Cost Greywater Treatment Technology

Performance of Agricultural Wastes as A Biofilter Media for Low-Cost Greywater Treatment Technology

The use of biofilters in the treatment of wastewater containing organic substances

Abstract The lack of sufficiently effective treatment of wastewater generated in industry and domestic life remains one of the most acute environmental problems. Domestic wastewater is characterized by a high content of organic impurities in its composition, which determines the specifics of the choice of treatment technologies. One of the most relevant and effective methods is biological purification carried out in biological filters. This article discusses the problems associated with wastewater treatment of a sanatorium compound. The analysis of the content of various components in the water supplied to the treatment was carried out, the efficiency of the treatment equipment was determined. The paper proposes and substantiates the expediency of using a modern type of synthetic ruff biofilter media to increase the cleaning efficiency of the wastewater and their compliance with regulatory requirements for discharge into a water body.

Assessing the performance of farm soil-based and hybrid biofilters for methane abatement

ABSTRACT Mitigating methane (CH4) emissions using methanotrophs (methane-oxidizing bacteria, MOB), is a simple, energy efficient and cheap technology. The abundance and distribution of MOB in the environmental samples is critical for efficient removal of emitted CH4 from any source. This study evaluated the performance of farm soils without and with cheap, easily accessible bulking materials as sustainable hybrid biofilter media. Soil-only biofilters removed up to 865 ± 19 g CH4 m−3 d−1 with well-drained organic carbon-rich soils compared with 264 ± 14 g CH4 m−3 d−1 for poorly drained soil. The removal efficiency decreased with increasing flow rate (0.16→0.24 L min−1) and subsequent priming could not return soil biofilters to their previous removal rate. Hybrid biofilters using organic, carbon-rich soils and compost removed up to 2698 g CH4 m−3 d−1 (flow rate 0.35 L min−1). Increasing CH4 flow rates also reduced their efficiency, but the hybrid biofilters with compost quickly regained most of their efficiency and removed up to 2262 g CH4 m−3 d−1 (flow rate 0.3 L min−1) after remixing of biofilter media. These results show that hybrid biofilters removed higher CH4 than soil-only biofilters and were also more resilient. The MOB gene abundance results complement the CH4 removal capacity of both soil-only and hybrid biofilter materials used. The more aerobic, carbon-rich soils had more abundant MOB than the poorly drained soil. The most porous hybrid biofilter with compost and more available nutrients to sustain bacterial growth and activity had the highest MOB abundance and removed the most CH4.

The Use of Polymeric Materials of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and Polypropylene (PP) as the media of Anaerobic-aerobic bioreactors in treating wastewater from the tofu industry

Small-scale businesses often dominate the tofu sector in Makassar City, preventing any prior wastewater management. While tofu is typically produced on a household scale, the wastewater treatment process is limited due to the need for suitable technology and high prices. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct this research to obtain tofu wastewater results that meet environmental discharge standards and develop a straightforward and affordable waste treatment concept. A laboratory scale with an experimental method is used in this study, where the test parameters used were BOD, COD, and TSS using two types of biofilter media, namely mineral water bottle media made of PET plastic and plastic straw media made of PP plastic with variations in observation time of 24 hours for six days. The results presented that the efficiency of the average removal in plastic-media reactors with mineral water bottles reduced BOD by 88.30%, COD by 88.97%, and TSS by 79.13%. The straw-based plastic reactor reduced BOD by 86.74%, COD by 85.41%, and TSS by 67.03%. The effectiveness value obtained shows that biofilter media made from plastic mineral bottles (PET) produces better effectiveness in removing BOD, COD, and TSS than biofilter media made from plastic straws (PP).

Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification of real domestic wastewater using novel biodegradable Cocos Nucifera fibre as biofilter media and carbon source: Performances and microbial community composition

The simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) performances in biofiltration system are largely governed by the filter media material and also the operating conditions. Moreover, a significant gap exists regarding the influence of different operating conditions on the SND performances in using plant-based waste materials as the biofilter media. Thus, in this study, long-term SND and organic pollutants removal were investigated in a continuous-flow biofiltration system filled with novel biodegradable Cocos nucifera fibre media operating under different dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, HRT and backwash intensity. Under best operating conditions of DO 1.5 mg/L, HRT 16.0 h, and airflow and water flow rate of 1.0 L/m2/s, the biofiltration system was able to remove an average of 70.7 % of NH3-N, 98.5 % of NO2-N, 90.3 % of COD, 86.9 % of soluble COD (sCOD), 98.7 % of TSS, 70.4 % of TN and achieved 94.3 % of SND efficiencies. The coexistence of enriched functional microorganisms such as nitrifiers (Nitrosomonas, Nitrospira) and denitrifiers (Dechloromonas, Zoogloea, Acidovorax) were believed to be responsible for the efficient performance of the system working under best operating conditions.

EFEKTIVITAS PENGGUNAAN METODE GABUNGAN METODE BIOFILTER ANAEROB DAN FITOREMEDIASI DALAM MENURUNKAN KADAR BOD, COD DAN TSS PADA LIMBAH CAIR DOMESTIK

The increasing population is one of the impacts of population density is the increasing need for drinking water, which also impacts increasing the amount of wastewater released. One approach that can be used in domestic wastewater management is using anaerobic biofilter and phytoremediation technology methods to reduce pollution levels. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of anaerobic biofilter and phytoremediation in reducing BOD, COD, and TSS levels in domestic wastewater at Perum Sumput Asri, Driyorejo District, Gresik Regency. This study uses variations of Biofilter media, namely in reactor one using ginger coral media and in the second reactor using bioring media for phytoremediation plants using water hyacinth plants. The retention time is 12 hours in each basin with a discharge of 3.6 l / hour with a continuous upflow system. The results of research from biofilter and phytoremediation media variations are very good coral ginger and water hyacinth biofilter media which have the effectiveness of reducing BOD levels by an average of 53%, COD levels by an average of 51.39% and TSS levels by an average of 72.40%.

Fixed-bed biofilter for polluted surface water treatment using chitosan impregnated-coconut husk biochar

Pelletizing biochar enables its use as a biofilter medium for polluted canal water treatment. Coconut husk biochar pellets and their modification with chitosan (CHC) were compared with conventional activated carbon pellets and gravel. The biofilter columns with these media were operated with a hydraulic loading rate of 0.1 m3/m2∙h. CHC showed the highest potential to reduce phosphate and nitrogen, via the adsorption process in the first week of filtration and later enhanced by biodegradation, to achieve removal efficiencies of 61.70 and 54.37% for these two key nutrients, respectively, over five weeks of biofilter operation. The predominant bacteria in the biofilter communities were characterized at the end of the experiments by next generation sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. The biofilter communities included ammonium oxidizing, nitrite oxidizing, denitrifying, polyphosphate accumulating and denitrifying phosphate-accumulating bacteria that benefit nutrient removal. The CHC biofilter also effectively removed micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals.

Effect of pH on Domestic Wastewater Treatment Efficiency with Biofilter Media Plastic Mineral Water Bottle Cap

Effect of pH on Domestic Wastewater Treatment Efficiency with Biofilter Media Plastic Mineral Water Bottle Cap

Acclimation, manganese removal, and backwash impact on full‐scale drinking water biofilter microbiome

AbstractBiofiltration for drinking water treatment has several water quality benefits but questions remain about biofilter start‐up in temperate climates where temperature and water quality changes can impact performance. A year‐long full‐scale demonstration was performed with biofilters operated in parallel to chlorinated filters to (O1) monitor the development of the biofilter microbiota across the acclimation period with respect to removal of Mn and total organic carbon, and (O2) determine the impact of depth and backwash events on the microbial community composition and function. Biofilter media biomass increased for the first 6 months of operation and after about 9 months the biofilters achieved comparable Mn removal to the chlorinated filters. Prokaryotic diversity decreased when the water temperature dropped. Backwash resulted in an increase in microbial diversity deeper in the biofilter. By the next sampling (30 h post backwash), 16S rRNA gene copies were again more abundant in the upper layers. Metagenomic sequencing confirmed the presence of moxA and mofA, Mn oxidizing genes. The results presented can help inform expected performance of full‐scale biofilters in temperate climates.

A global perspective on compositions, risks, and ecological genesis of antibiotic resistance genes in biofilters of drinking water treatment plants

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in biofilters of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) are regarded to be a remarkable potential health risk to human. A global survey on ARGs in biofilters may help evaluate their risk features as a whole. This study aims to explore the compositions, risks, and ecological genesis of ARGs in the biofilters of DWTPs. In total, 98 metagenomes of DWTP biofilters were collected from Sequence Read Archive (SRA) of National center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), and the main ARG types were recognized, with multidrug, bacitracin, and beta-lactam as the first three types. Source water types (surface water vs. groundwater) were found to significantly influence antibiotic resistome, overpassing biofilter media and locations. Although ARG abundances of surface water biofilters were approximately five times higher than that of groundwater biofilters, the risk pattern of ARGs was highly similar between surface water biofilters and groundwater biofilters, and up to 99.61% of the ARGs on average belong to the least risk and unassessed ranks, and only 0.23% the highest risk rank. Monobactam biosynthesis pathway and prodigiosin biosynthesis pathway, two antibiotics biosynthesis pathways, were observed to be positively correlated with several ARG types and total ARG abundance in samples of surface water and groundwater biofilters, respectively, suggesting their potential roles in ecological genesis of ARGs. Overall, the results of this study would deepen our understanding of the ARG risks in biofilters of DWTPs and shed light on their ecological genesis inside.

Biochar as a Sustainable Product for the Removal of Odor Emissions - Mini Literature Review

Odors are considered as one of the most important environmental problems that may adversely influence the quality of life of people affected by their interaction. Due to the multiple sources of emissions, combined with the abundance of chemical compounds classified odor nuisance, new methods of reducing odor emissions are sought while maintaining environmental neutrality. One potential option is to use biochar, a sustainable, carbonized solid product resulting from the thermo-chemical treatment of biomass and/or organic waste. Due to its valuable properties (in particular, high specific surface area, and microporous structure), this material can be used for sorption purposes. Although the issue of using biochar to remove odor emissions is relatively new, in recent years new research directions have been undertaken to determine the sorption efficiency of biochar not only as a direct adsorbent but also in alternative applications. Therefore, this paper aimed to review the most important directions of biochar management in the removal of odor-causing compounds and to highlight the current advances undertaken in this direction. It was distinguished that biochar can enhance odor mitigation by being an additive to compost, a biofiltration medium, a direct adsorbent, a soil additive, a substrate for the production of the odor-absorbing product, a dietary supplement, and a biocover. However, further research is needed to strengthen the range of greater use of biochar in practice.

Rechargeable stormwater biofilters: In situ regeneration of PFAS removal capacity by using a cationic polymer, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride

Conventional stormwater biofilter media such as sand and compost have limited capacity to remove PFAS due to the exhaustion of attachment sites with pollutants and other stormwater constituents. Replacing exhausted filter media is expensive whereas in situ regeneration of their adsorption capacity can be cost-effective. This study demonstrates that in situ application of cationic polymers such as polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC), a drinking water coagulant, could regenerate the filter media capacity to remove anionic PFAS. The benefit of PDADMAC increased with a decrease in PFAS carbon chain length: the removal of PFBA increased by 9.9 ± 1.8 times while the removal of PFOA only increased by 0.3 ± 0.03 times. The result indicates the application of the cationic polymer can help remove short-chain PFAS, the ones that are most difficult to remove by typical organic amendments such as activated carbon and biochar. Despite being used as coagulants, the addition of PDADMAC did not negatively affect the clogging rate of the biofilters in the presence of suspended sediments. Surprisingly, biofilters exposed to PDADMAC required 35.3% more suspended sediments than the biofilters without PDADMAC to reduce the hydraulic conductivity below half of the initial value. PDADMAC application reduced the release of colloids from the biofilter media during intermittent flow, thereby decreasing the potential of the colloid-facilitated release of adsorbed PFAS. The adsorbed PDADMAC in the biofilter was not degraded, indicating that applied PDADMAC could last long and continue to remove PFAS in the biofilter. Thus, in situ application of cationic polymers can help regenerate the PFAS removal capacity of conventional biofilters.

Effect of Filter Medium on Water Quality during Passive Biofilter Activation in a Recirculating Aquaculture System for Oncorhynchus mykiss

High-performance biofilters for water purification in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) ensure the safety of cultures of highly nutritious fish. As the most critical step in the functioning of biofilters is their activation, the objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of commercial artificial media, namely RK Plast (BR-1), Mutag-BioChip30 (BR-2), and LevaPor (BR-3), for the passive activation of biofilters used in rainbow trout farming. Changes in NH4+-N, NO2−-N, NO3− -N, phosphorus, and carbon concentrations were analyzed. In the first period, an increase in NH4+-N concentration was recorded, before an increase in NO2−-N concentration (maximum concentrations ranged 0.728–1.290 and 0.982–5.198 mg N dm−3, respectively), followed by a reduction and stabilization to a level safe for the fish (both below 0.100 mg N dm−3). Concurrently, a steady increase in NO3−-N concentration was noted, with a maximum concentration between 6.521 and 7.326 mg N dm−3. Total phosphorus and total carbon ranged from 0.423 to 0.548 mg P dm−3, and from 43.8 to 45.2 mg C dm−3. The study confirmed the feasibility of using the tested artificial biofilter media for rainbow trout farming in RAS with passive biofilter activation. Biofilter activation efficiency was highest for the media with the highest specific surface area (BR-2 and BR-3). The removal of ammonium nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen was above 90%. Nitrogen biotransformation was not limited by phosphorus or carbon concentrations.

Evaluation of a Tomato Waste Biofilter for the Retention of Gaseous Losses from Pig Slurry Hygienization by pH Modification

The use of pig slurry as organic fertilizer in intensive horticulture could be possible after hygienization to avoid contamination of products. This research aimed to evaluate a mixture of a tomato waste and rice husk as biofilter media to reduce NH3, N2O, CO2, and CH4 losses from a simple and low-cost solution for slurry hygienization by pH modification. The experiment was made in a system of laboratory scale biofilters connected to jars filled with raw slurry as control and three treatment methods: acidified slurry, alkalinized slurry, and neutralized slurry. The gas concentrations were measured for 35 days, and the composition of slurries and biofilters were determined. The results of this study showed that the mixture of biofiltering media, composed of tomato waste and rice husk, has the potential to retain NH3 and greenhouse gases (GHG) from a simple and low-cost solution for slurry hygienization by pH modification. Compared to the treatment raw slurry biofilter, the treatment neutralized slurry biofilter, subjected to a combined treatment by alkalinization/neutralization, retained 19% NH3, 4% CO2, and 83% CH4 losses and had no impact on N2O and global warming potential. Thus, the use of tomato waste biofilter during alkalinization did not increase the loss of NH3 and reduced GHG compared to raw slurry, avoiding the subsequent neutralization of slurry for environmental reasons, and could be used as an organic fertilizer in horticulture. However, using the combined alkalinization/neutralization treatment will improve the fertilizer value of the slurry by adjusting the pH from 9.5 to 7.5.

The control of waterborne pathogenic bacteria in fresh water using a biologically active filter

The aim of this study was to investigate the control of three species of bacteria commonly associated with biologically contaminated water, using biofiltration. In this study, a laboratory-scale biofilter system was used to investigate the control of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in fresh water. Simulated fresh water was inoculated with the test pathogens at a starting inocula of ~1000 CFU 100 mL−1 to challenge the biofilters. Biofilter systems operating within a recirculation configuration demonstrated significant reduction of E. coli (99%), E. faecalis (99%), and P. aeruginosa (92%) after 24 h. Conversely, all sterile control systems did not show any significant reduction in pathogens. Subsequent analysis of the biofilter media after circulation showed that 0% of E. coli was recovered from the biofilter, whereas 0.06% and 1.26% of E. faecalis and P. aeruginosa were recovered respectively. Further investigation demonstrated the reduction of E. coli and enterococci from an environmentally-derived surface water of 99.8% and 99.4% respectively. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that biofilter systems can be used to significantly reduce waterborne pathogenic bacteria within fresh water. The potential application of low-cost, energy efficient biofilter systems for the management of waterborne bacterial pathogens in water supplies is discussed.

Waste Treatment of Milk Using Aerobic And Anaerobic Honeycomb Waste Processing System To Reduce COD, Bod, NH3N,TSS, Oil, Fat And pH

<p>The dairy industry is one of the industries that continues to grow in Indonesia in line with the large demand for dairy foods. Liquid waste originating from the dairy industry has a special character, namely susceptibility to bacteria. This waste is very easy to decompose and if it is not immediately recycled or controlled it will be very dangerous to the environment around the factory. This research was carried out through the following stages: the seeding process for 12 days, as a stage of the process of bacterial growth and development, marked by a neutral pH, which ranges from 6.9 to 7.All wastewater originating from the production process is channeled into the initial reservoir that has been lye is added which functions to neutralize waste oil. The filtered water enters the aerobic tank, which functions to reduce pollutants in the form of BOD, COD, TSS, Oil and Fat, NH3N, and pH by breaking down bacteria without the need for oxygen. The next stage is that the waste is channeled into an aerobic tank made in the form of a honeycomb which is designed to adhere to the valley-breaking bacterial biofilm for the growth of bacteria. This media is also called wasp nest biofilter media. The percentage of reduction in BOD, COD, pH, NH3N, Oil and Fat before and after being filtered through the milk waste filtering installation at KPSBU Lembang, West Java. The results of the study were a decrease in BOD, 86.5%, COD: 86.83%, TSS: 78.2%, NH3N: 48.23% Fat and Oil: 91.9% and pH in the range 6-9.</p>

Evaluation of biofilter performance with alternative local biomedia in pilot scale recirculating aquaculture systems

Plastic is commonly used as biofilter media in recirculating aquaculture systems. Because plastic is relatively expensive and may erode and emit microplastics to the environment, efforts are being made to test and develop more sustainable materials. Five alternative locally available biofilter media were compared with commercial plastic media and evaluated in duplicate in 1 m3 two pilot scale Recirculation aquaculture system. Ammonium chloride and sodium nitrite were added to the systems for 4 weeks followed by stocking 20 kg of Nile tilapia in each system. Volumetric total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite and oxygen conversion rates were assessed for ten weeks. All biofilters with local media matured and reached full capacity after six weeks, while commercial plastic biomedia matured after seven weeks. This study found that the performance of commercial plastic biomedia was similar to performance of coconut shells in terms of volumetric TAN conversion rate (VTR), volumetric nitrite conversion rate (VNR) and volumetric oxygen conversion rate (VOCR). The highest VTR recorded in this study was 599 ± 15.8 g TAN/m3/d from coconut shells while the lowest was 343 ± 8.9 g TAN/m3/d from cattle horns. Biofilters with commercial plastic media had the highest VNR (704 ± 50.3 g NO2–N/m3/d) while media made of cattle horns was the lowest (457 ± 46.1 g NO2–N/m3/d). Biofilters containing coconut shells demonstrated the highest oxygen consumption around 3.0 g/m3/d and biofilters containing charcoal consumed less than 1.0 g/m3/d of oxygen. This study suggests that coconut shells can be used in place of plastic materials in simple recirculation aquaculture system biofiltration. This study also recommends further studies on comparing coconut shells with other biomedia and assessing its effects on water quality parameters and durability.

Application of co-immobilized microbial biochar beads in hybrid biofilter towards effective treatment of chrome tanning wastewater

This paper aims to scrutinize the comparative performance of hybrid biofilter via column mode to boost the reduction rate of Cr (VI) and organic pollutants in various pre-treated tannery wastewater. The pre-treated water through aluminium formate, aluminium sulphate, and ferric chloride were passed through two divergent biofilter medium discretely with (i) immobilized sodium alginate microbial beads (Im/S.AM.B) and (ii) co-immobilized microbial biochar beads (Co-im/B.M.B). Biosorption efficiency of the hybrid biofilter was examined with respect to pH, initial adsorbate concentration, time, flow rate, breakthrough curve, and regeneration studies. The results exhibited that aluminium formate coagulant pre-treated wastewater when passed through Im/S.AM.B under optimized conditions, the reduction rate of Cr (VI), COD and sulphate was 92.5%, 89.5% and 75%, respectively, whereas Co-im/B.M.B surpassed it by 6.7%, 6.5% and 19% respectively, with a contact time of 90 min, flow rate 2 mL/min, depth 30 cm and pH 6. Further, the raw and treated sample of Co-im/B.M.B was studied for its morphology and surface chemistry via FE-SEM, EDX, FTIR and XRD analysis. The results revealed that Cr (VI) reduction is predominantly through precipitation, electrostatic attraction, and metal complexation. It was observed that electrostatic attraction of cationic charged biochar surface to Cr (VI) ions results in the reduction of Cr (VI) to Cr (III) and complexation between Cr (III). Further, the functional groups present on the microbial biomass (DPAML065) surface were also found responsible for Cr (VI) reduction. Thus, Co-im/B.M.B in hybrid biofilter presents an economical approach in reducing Cr (VI) from tannery wastewater.

Comammox Nitrospira bacteria outnumber canonical nitrifiers irrespective of electron donor mode and availability in biofiltration systems.

Complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria coexist with canonical ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria in a wide range of environments. Whether this is due to competitive or cooperative interactions, or a result of niche separation is not yet clear. Understanding the factors driving coexistence of nitrifiers is critical to manage nitrification processes occurring in engineered and natural ecosystems. In this study, microcosm-based experiments were used to investigate the impact of nitrogen source and loading on the population dynamics of nitrifiers in drinking water biofilter media. Shotgun sequencing of DNA followed by co-assembly and reconstruction of metagenome assembled genomes revealed clade A2 comammox bacteria were likely the primary nitrifiers within microcosms and increased in abundance over Nitrosomonas-like ammonia and Nitrospira-like nitrite oxidizing bacteria irrespective of nitrogen source type or loading. Changes in comammox bacterial abundance did not correlate with either ammonia or nitrite oxidizing bacterial abundance in urea-amended systems, where metabolic reconstruction indicated potential for cross-feeding between strict ammonia and nitrite oxidizers. In contrast, comammox bacterial abundance demonstrated a negative correlation with nitrite oxidizers in ammonia-amended systems. This suggests potentially weaker synergistic relationships between strict ammonia and nitrite oxidizers might enable comammox bacteria to displace strict nitrite oxidizers from complex nitrifying communities.

Natural aging of expanded shale, clay, and slate (ESCS) amendment with heavy metals in stormwater increases its antibacterial properties: Implications on biofilter design

Aging is often expected to decrease the pathogen removal capacity of media because of exhaustion of attachment sites by adsorption of co-contaminants and dissolved organics. In contrast, the adsorption of metals naturally present in stormwater during aging could have a positive impact on pathogen removal. To examine the effect of adsorbed metals on pathogen removal, biofilter media amended with expanded clay, shale, and slate (ESCS) aggregates, a lightweight aggregate, were exposed to metals by intermittently injecting natural stormwater spiked with Cu, Pb, and Zn, and the capacity of aged and unaged media to remove Escherichia coli (E. coli), a pathogen indicator, were compared. Metal adsorption on ESCS media decreased their net negative surface charge and altered the surface properties as confirmed by zeta potential measurement and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. These changes increased the E. coli adsorption capacity of aged media compared with unaged media and decreased overall remobilization of attached E. coli during intermittent infiltration of stormwater. A live-dead analysis confirmed that the adsorbed metals inactivated attached E. coli, thereby replenishing the adsorption capacity. Overall, the results confirmed that natural aging of biofilter media with adsorbed metals could indeed have a net positive effect on E. coli removal in biofilters and therefore should be included in the conceptual model predicting long-term removal of pathogens from stormwater containing mixed pollutants.