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Impact of hydraulic retention time on phosphorus removal from wastewater using reactive media

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Phosphorus (P) discharge from wastewater treatment plants into the environment contributes to eutrophication issues. Reactive media filters represent an effective, simple and cost-effective solution to decrease the P content

Image courtesy of interviewee. December 8, 2023

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This video video discusses the challenges and approaches related to phosphorus management in wastewater and its environmental impact. Phosphorus is a crucial nutrient used heavily in fertilizers, but excessive runoff from agricultural land contributes to eutrophication in rivers, adversely affecting ecosystems. In the UK, 75% of rivers are reported to have excessive phosphorus levels, prompting efforts to reduce phosphorus runoff, particularly from wastewater treatment facilities.

There is concern about the depletion of phosphorus reserves, which are expected to run out in the next 40-60 years, and the current methods of application on land can result in waste and ecological damage. This video video highlights the need for alternative approaches to managing phosphorus, particularly in smaller sewage works that may lack the infrastructure for chemical dosing systems.

One emerging solution mentioned is the use of reactive media filters, which can capture phosphorus without the need for chemical dosing. These filters can be designed to allow wastewater to pass through, binding phosphorus to the media. The research conducted under a PhD program aims to determine the technical requirements and effectiveness of these filters, including optimal size and hydraulic retention time for effective phosphorus removal.

Additionally, the potential of using recycled materials, such as seashells, as filter media is explored. These materials not only aid in phosphorus removal but can also serve as soil conditioners when returned to the land, contributing to a circular economy.

The next steps in this research involve evaluating the application barriers and comparing costs and technical designs of the new technologies with traditional ferric dosing methods to establish effective wastewater treatment solutions for phosphorus management.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.285 --> 00:02.085
Phosphorus in itself is an element.

00:02.305 --> 00:05.045
We use a great deal in fertilizers, a planet

00:05.065 --> 00:06.125
to agricultural land.

00:06.465 --> 00:08.525
The big problem is one, if,

00:08.865 --> 00:11.125
it passes off from agricultural land directly

00:11.145 --> 00:13.365
or through sewage into our river.

00:13.425 --> 00:15.765
As it calls eutrofication, it calls excess growth

00:15.765 --> 00:18.605
of argie changes the whole ecological balance

00:18.705 --> 00:20.245
of the river, river.

00:20.245 --> 00:23.965
And, in the UK it's estimated about 75%

00:23.965 --> 00:26.285
of our rivers have too much phosphorus in them.

00:26.745 --> 00:29.165
So, there, there, there's a big drive now

00:29.265 --> 00:31.725
to reduce the amount of phosphorus coming off

00:31.745 --> 00:32.765
of off the land.

00:32.765 --> 00:34.645
Particularly, for wastewater treatment plants.

00:34.645 --> 00:37.925
They're clearer, point source pipe discharge.

00:37.945 --> 00:40.005
You, you can, you can control.

00:40.425 --> 00:42.805
The other aspect of it is that we are,

00:43.135 --> 00:44.445
we're gonna run outta phosphorous.

00:44.585 --> 00:46.445
Um, depends how you predict this,

00:46.445 --> 00:48.565
but most of our phosphorus, we dig out of the ground

00:48.625 --> 00:51.405
as rock phosphate and we apply it to the land.

00:51.825 --> 00:55.805
Um, those reserves will run out sometime in the next maybe

00:55.805 --> 00:58.165
40, 50, 60 years, depending on predictions.

00:58.745 --> 01:01.605
And our open, our open loop, the fact

01:01.605 --> 01:03.365
that we're just putting on the land and it's flowing in the

01:03.365 --> 01:04.405
rivers, means

01:04.435 --> 01:07.365
that this phosphorus is effectively being wasted as well

01:07.365 --> 01:08.765
as causing environmental damage.

01:09.145 --> 01:12.525
So if we can look at ways of reducing it in effluence

01:12.905 --> 01:16.685
and also eventually recovering it so we can use it,

01:17.045 --> 01:19.045
reuse it in a circular economy approach.

01:19.465 --> 01:22.445
Um, bring brings benefits around the vector media.

01:22.445 --> 01:26.565
Have a particular niche in this, whole,

01:26.895 --> 01:28.965
whole approach to recovering phosphorus.

01:29.145 --> 01:30.845
Um, it larger works, sewage works.

01:30.905 --> 01:33.565
We tend to add, ferric salts.

01:33.685 --> 01:35.565
We dose chemicals into the sewage

01:35.825 --> 01:38.445
and the phosphorus precipitates out,

01:38.755 --> 01:41.005
that goes into the sludge in the uk.

01:41.475 --> 01:44.245
Most of that sludge goes on to agricultural land.

01:44.705 --> 01:46.245
Um, but there are threats to that.

01:46.345 --> 01:49.805
Uh, in the sludge itself, there are, all sorts

01:49.805 --> 01:52.685
of other pollutants, pharmaceuticals, microplastics,

01:52.845 --> 01:55.365
and so on, which mean that there may be a threat to

01:55.365 --> 01:56.885
that going on to land in future.

01:57.505 --> 01:59.805
And secondly, those sorts of technologies.

02:00.185 --> 02:04.045
Um, they don't scale down very well to small sites.

02:04.585 --> 02:06.325
Uh, they need a lot of infrastructure.

02:06.435 --> 02:07.885
They need, bones

02:08.085 --> 02:10.525
'cause these chemicals are, are quite,

02:10.825 --> 02:12.325
quite corrosive.

02:12.325 --> 02:13.765
So we need to store them correctly.

02:13.985 --> 02:15.925
We need to have safety showers in there

02:16.025 --> 02:19.085
for the personnel on site, need to have access, roads

02:19.085 --> 02:20.565
and so on, and water supplies.

02:20.905 --> 02:23.645
And lots of our small sewage works serving villages,

02:23.645 --> 02:24.805
maybe a few hundred people.

02:25.145 --> 02:27.885
Um, lots of 'em don't have these facilities in place.

02:28.345 --> 02:32.125
So now the, the, consents, the, the,

02:32.145 --> 02:33.485
the limits on phosphorus

02:33.485 --> 02:36.405
and effluence are being applied to these small works.

02:36.665 --> 02:38.965
Uh, actually these, technologies

02:39.655 --> 02:42.005
don't scale down very well economically

02:42.225 --> 02:45.125
and also technically, some of these sites,

02:45.125 --> 02:47.805
don't have, means electric,

02:47.955 --> 02:49.325
lots of 'em don't have main's water.

02:49.825 --> 02:53.445
Uh, and also you need to have, control of the dosing.

02:53.625 --> 02:55.805
You don't wanna put too much in too much,

02:56.325 --> 02:57.565
chemicals going in, mean iron in

02:57.565 --> 02:58.805
your effluent, and that's causes

02:58.805 --> 02:59.925
Another set of problems.

03:00.385 --> 03:03.365
So there, there's a, a requirement from water,

03:03.385 --> 03:05.885
the water industry to, to find other ways

03:05.945 --> 03:07.805
of managing phosphorus and effluence.

03:08.025 --> 03:10.445
And this is where reactive media filters come in.

03:10.625 --> 03:13.405
So, reactive media, there's a range of different compounds.

03:13.405 --> 03:16.845
Some of them, manufactured, some of them,

03:17.155 --> 03:19.805
naturally occurring, which, which phosphorus binds

03:19.805 --> 03:21.845
to either absorbs to or precipitates.

03:22.185 --> 03:26.565
So if we can build a filter, a simple filter,

03:26.655 --> 03:28.485
which the sewage passes through

03:28.905 --> 03:30.765
and the phosphorus sticks to this media,

03:31.305 --> 03:34.565
we can remove it without having to dosing chemicals.

03:35.225 --> 03:36.245
And that's the whole point

03:36.245 --> 03:39.805
of reactor media is can we build a simple filter which the

03:39.805 --> 03:41.685
water just percolates through under gravity,

03:42.135 --> 03:45.285
which does the job of a, of, of a chemical dosing pump.

03:45.385 --> 03:48.205
And, and the other, infrastructure required

03:48.265 --> 03:51.045
for phosphorus removal using chemicals we work

03:51.045 --> 03:53.445
with very closely with, with the water industry.

03:53.545 --> 03:58.005
And this, PhD, of, of Saskia Benzing was,

03:58.005 --> 04:00.485
sponsored by the university and, Southern Water.

04:01.065 --> 04:05.125
And we were trying to understand the technical requirements

04:05.265 --> 04:07.165
to design one of these filters.

04:07.555 --> 04:10.485
What, amount of phosphorus can this media uptake?

04:10.825 --> 04:14.725
How long does it have to be in contact with the wastewater,

04:15.305 --> 04:18.005
to give the required levels of removal,

04:18.465 --> 04:19.565
how long they last for?

04:19.625 --> 04:23.485
So we were trying to derive the, the engineering parameters

04:23.865 --> 04:25.765
to design a filter for these sites.

04:26.305 --> 04:30.845
So, the paper, which they refer to was, was looking at

04:31.025 --> 04:33.885
how these media, how long they need to be in contact,

04:33.995 --> 04:35.565
what hydraulic residence time.

04:35.865 --> 04:38.245
And of course that is gonna really depend on

04:38.585 --> 04:40.325
how big you size your filter.

04:40.705 --> 04:43.165
The bigger the filter, the longer the contact time.

04:43.545 --> 04:46.525
So if we're gonna look at the technical aspects of this,

04:46.525 --> 04:49.285
the economic aspects as well, we need to understand

04:49.715 --> 04:51.765
what size of filter needs to be.

04:52.145 --> 04:56.085
But also these media are not gonna, last forever.

04:56.095 --> 04:59.525
Eventually, all the sites on the surface are gonna be filled

04:59.545 --> 05:01.765
up, all the, they're gonna take up as much phosphorus

05:01.765 --> 05:03.245
as their capacity allows,

05:03.505 --> 05:05.365
and at that point, we're gonna have to take the phosphorus

05:05.365 --> 05:09.555
out and, and, and, replace the media.

05:09.625 --> 05:13.515
With new media. The implications were, really the, the,

05:13.575 --> 05:16.355
the, we found you, you do need a, a, a,

05:16.475 --> 05:20.075
a hydraulic retention time, probably above 10 hours with,

05:20.075 --> 05:21.555
with some of the medias we were testing.

05:21.775 --> 05:23.835
So the media gonna be the beds,

05:23.835 --> 05:25.835
the filter beds are gonna be quite large,

05:25.855 --> 05:28.555
but we're talking about small sites, so it's all relative.

05:29.095 --> 05:32.475
Um, some of the medias will bring other implications.

05:32.575 --> 05:34.635
So we were screening them for,

05:34.635 --> 05:37.035
whether they change the pH of the effluent.

05:37.035 --> 05:41.555
Uh, some of these media, basically release hydroxide

05:41.555 --> 05:43.915
and increase the pH two unacceptable levels,

05:44.165 --> 05:46.955
which mean there's another, another stage required.

05:47.305 --> 05:50.395
Some of them, have, have impurities in them, which,

05:50.395 --> 05:53.275
which can actually pass into the wastewater, which again,

05:53.375 --> 05:56.875
is an idea, and we wouldn't want to use those media. So

05:57.005 --> 06:00.165
We've been looking at, a range of other combat.

06:00.215 --> 06:02.925
We've actually been trying to make our own media from,

06:03.315 --> 06:07.365
seashells, using, cockle, cockle shell products,

06:07.365 --> 06:10.165
and, firing them in, furnaces to,

06:10.585 --> 06:13.085
to make something which avoids some of these problems.

06:13.105 --> 06:16.805
And perhaps, again, uses wastes from another industry,

06:17.265 --> 06:19.605
to, to, to, to treat the wastewater.

06:20.545 --> 06:22.565
The next stage is really to, to, to,

06:22.865 --> 06:24.405
to complete the circular economy

06:24.545 --> 06:28.285
and to, to, to recover the phosphorus, from these media

06:28.545 --> 06:32.125
and take it back as a fertilizer, to look at the,

06:32.315 --> 06:35.445
type of phosphorus, which has been precipitated.

06:35.515 --> 06:36.645
It's bioavailability.

06:37.185 --> 06:41.005
And this is why the seashells actually give us a, a, a, a,

06:41.325 --> 06:44.125
a big interest because as well as reusing a waste product,

06:44.545 --> 06:47.445
they, they are used as a soil conditioner in themselves.

06:47.825 --> 06:50.125
So if we enrich that with phosphorus, we may be able

06:50.125 --> 06:53.445
to have a, have a, a, not just a circular economy

06:53.545 --> 06:56.045
for phosphorus, but a circular economy brand,

06:56.065 --> 06:57.325
the use of seashells.

06:57.865 --> 06:59.765
Um, so, so there's a, there's a range.

06:59.885 --> 07:02.365
I mean, these are starting to be used in practice.

07:02.365 --> 07:05.645
There's various, companies

07:05.645 --> 07:07.565
and walk you towards working in this sphere as well.

07:07.945 --> 07:10.925
Um, but our, our next steps are to, to,

07:11.225 --> 07:12.925
to look at the barriers to application

07:12.925 --> 07:15.165
of this technology and come up.

07:15.165 --> 07:18.085
We're currently working on a, an off what innovation project

07:18.425 --> 07:22.965
to, to look at how we can, compare the costs,

07:23.155 --> 07:26.165
compare the technical design between ferric dosing

07:26.385 --> 07:30.005
so we can understand where the, where the sweet spot is,

07:30.005 --> 07:31.725
what sort of size works.

07:31.865 --> 07:34.765
We might use these technologies, to, to,

07:34.765 --> 07:35.725
to treat the wastewater.

00:00 - Phosphorus in itself is an element. We use a great deal in fertilizers, a planet to agricultural land. The big problem is one, if, it passes off from agricultural land directly or through sewage into our river.

00:13 - As it calls eutrofication, it calls excess growth of argie changes the whole ecological balance of the river, river. And, in the UK it's estimated about 75% of our rivers have too much phosphorus in them. So, there, there, there's a big drive now to reduce the amount of phosphorus coming off of off the land. Particularly, for wastewater treatment plants. They're clearer, point source pipe discharge.

00:37 - You, you can, you can control. The other aspect of it is that we are, we're gonna run outta phosphorous. depends how you predict this, but most of our phosphorus, we dig out of the ground as rock phosphate and we apply it to the land. those reserves will run out sometime in the next maybe 40, 50, 60 years, depending on predictions. And our open, our open loop, the fact that we're just putting on the land and it's flowing in the

01:03 - rivers, means that this phosphorus is effectively being wasted as well as causing environmental damage. So if we can look at ways of reducing it in effluence and also eventually recovering it so we can use it, reuse it in a circular economy approach. bring brings benefits around the vector media. Have a particular niche in this, whole, whole approach to recovering phosphorus. it larger works, sewage works.

01:30 - We tend to add, ferric salts. We dose chemicals into the sewage and the phosphorus precipitates out, that goes into the sludge in the uk. Most of that sludge goes on to agricultural land. but there are threats to that. in the sludge itself, there are, all sorts of other pollutants, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and so on, which mean that there may be a threat to that going on to land in future.

01:57 - And secondly, those sorts of technologies. they don't scale down very well to small sites. they need a lot of infrastructure. They need, bones 'cause these chemicals are, are quite, quite corrosive. So we need to store them correctly. We need to have safety showers in there for the personnel on site, need to have access, roads and so on, and water supplies.

02:20 - And lots of our small sewage works serving villages, maybe a few hundred people. lots of 'em don't have these facilities in place. So now the, the, consents, the, the, the limits on phosphorus and effluence are being applied to these small works. actually these, technologies don't scale down very well economically and also technically, some of these sites, don't have, means electric,

02:47 - lots of 'em don't have main's water. and also you need to have, control of the dosing. You don't wanna put too much in too much, chemicals going in, mean iron in your effluent, and that's causes Another set of problems. So there, there's a, a requirement from water, the water industry to, to find other ways of managing phosphorus and effluence. And this is where reactive media filters come in.

03:10 - So, reactive media, there's a range of different compounds. Some of them, manufactured, some of them, naturally occurring, which, which phosphorus binds to either absorbs to or precipitates. So if we can build a filter, a simple filter, which the sewage passes through and the phosphorus sticks to this media, we can remove it without having to dosing chemicals. And that's the whole point of reactor media is can we build a simple filter which the

03:39 - water just percolates through under gravity, which does the job of a, of, of a chemical dosing pump. And, and the other, infrastructure required for phosphorus removal using chemicals we work with very closely with, with the water industry. And this, PhD, of, of Saskia Benzing was, sponsored by the university and, Southern Water. And we were trying to understand the technical requirements to design one of these filters. What, amount of phosphorus can this media uptake?

04:10 - How long does it have to be in contact with the wastewater, to give the required levels of removal, how long they last for? So we were trying to derive the, the engineering parameters to design a filter for these sites. So, the paper, which they refer to was, was looking at how these media, how long they need to be in contact, what hydraulic residence time. And of course that is gonna really depend on how big you size your filter.

04:40 - The bigger the filter, the longer the contact time. So if we're gonna look at the technical aspects of this, the economic aspects as well, we need to understand what size of filter needs to be. But also these media are not gonna, last forever. Eventually, all the sites on the surface are gonna be filled up, all the, they're gonna take up as much phosphorus as their capacity allows, and at that point, we're gonna have to take the phosphorus out and, and, and, replace the media.

05:09 - With new media. The implications were, really the, the, the, we found you, you do need a, a, a, a hydraulic retention time, probably above 10 hours with, with some of the medias we were testing. So the media gonna be the beds, the filter beds are gonna be quite large, but we're talking about small sites, so it's all relative. some of the medias will bring other implications. So we were screening them for, whether they change the pH of the effluent.

05:37 - some of these media, basically release hydroxide and increase the pH two unacceptable levels, which mean there's another, another stage required. Some of them, have, have impurities in them, which, which can actually pass into the wastewater, which again, is an idea, and we wouldn't want to use those media. So We've been looking at, a range of other combat. We've actually been trying to make our own media from, seashells, using, cockle, cockle shell products, and, firing them in, furnaces to,

06:10 - to make something which avoids some of these problems. And perhaps, again, uses wastes from another industry, to, to, to, to treat the wastewater. The next stage is really to, to, to, to complete the circular economy and to, to, to recover the phosphorus, from these media and take it back as a fertilizer, to look at the, type of phosphorus, which has been precipitated. It's bioavailability. And this is why the seashells actually give us a, a, a, a,

06:41 - a big interest because as well as reusing a waste product, they, they are used as a soil conditioner in themselves. So if we enrich that with phosphorus, we may be able to have a, have a, a, not just a circular economy for phosphorus, but a circular economy brand, the use of seashells. so, so there's a, there's a range. I mean, these are starting to be used in practice. There's various, companies and walk you towards working in this sphere as well.

07:07 - but our, our next steps are to, to, to look at the barriers to application of this technology and come up. We're currently working on a, an off what innovation project to, to look at how we can, compare the costs, compare the technical design between ferric dosing so we can understand where the, where the sweet spot is, what sort of size works. We might use these technologies, to, to, to treat the wastewater.

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