Less And More: Biological Nutrient Removal With Granular Sludge

Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are facing stricter limits on nutrient discharges, yet each plant and situation is different and solutions are not one-size-fits-all. Bryce Figdore, Wastewater Process Engineer with HDR and Water Talk podcast guest, talks about another tool at utilities' disposal — nitrification bioaugmentation using granular sludge. In this case, it's a solution befitting WWTPs needing to reduce footprint and/or increase treatment capacity.

"It’s a fundamentally simple biological process," Figdore explains. "Instead of different anaerobic and anoxic and aerobic zones, you have all of those zones within one biofilm. It eliminates some mechanical equipment, like mixers and RAS [return activated sludge] pumps and internal recycle pumps. Because the bacteria are in granules rather than flocs, they settle very rapidly. You can double the mixed liquor concentration and really shrink down the footprint of your system, or increase the capacity in whatever tank volume you already have."

Learn more by clicking on the audio player.