Energy-Savings Benefits of Denitrification
Authors:
- Diego Rosso
- Michael K. Stenstrom
Urban areas in the United States have generally implemented full secondary treatment and in some cases more advanced treatment, depending on the needs of the receiving waters. Typically, plants on the West Coast that discharge to ocean waters are generally designed to remove only carbon and do not remove nutrients. Recently, inland plants have been required to upgrade for biological nutrient removal (BNR).
Water reclamation is often the motivation for upgrading, and a greater fraction of the wastewater treatment plant effluents are now being recycled. Wastewater reclamation, which can be achieved by recharging ground water basins or augmenting drinking water reservoirs and rivers, is viewed as a new water source either by displacing potable water for lesser uses of through indirect potable reuse. Nitrogen removal can be a strict requirement for water reclamation, depending on the application. Therefore, treatment plants that are candidates for reclamation are being upgraded to remove nitrogen.
