Efficiency of brick dust and powdered ceramsite in the phosphorus removal from wastewater

Abstract

The biological methods of removing the phosphorus compounds from wastewater as applied currently at treatment plants may no longer be regarded as sufficient. They can therefore be augmented with physicochemical methods, raising the efficiency of the wastewater treatment system. Indeed, almost all large urban wastewater treatment plants practice precipitation of phosphorus using salts of iron and aluminum in the form of chemical coagulants. Nevertheless, the search for new ways of assisting with the removal of the biogenic element from wastewater, e.g. by dosing bentonites, fly ash and post-technological sludge from water treatment stations, or even unconventional organic sorbents such as rice husks, is ongoing. A further unconventional material in the P-removal from wastewater may take the form of powdered mineral materials. The work presented here shows the results of laboratory-scale trials on the P-removal using brick dust and powdered ceramsite (expanded clay).