Nutrient (phosphorus) removal from domestic wastewater

Abstract

Eutrophication is one of the major Environmental concern causing serious ecological problems in open water sources such as lake, ponds, estuaries and reservoir. Eutrophication is engendered by uncontrolled production of aquatic plants, algal growth, and depletion of aquatic organisms due to the presence of excessive nutrients, preventing the sunlight penetration and absorption of oxygen necessary for underwater life. Aquatic life could be affected by two severe symptoms of eutrophication such as hypoxia and harmful algal blooms, especially fishes by stunting its growth and inhibiting photosynthesis. Human activities can accelerate the entry of nutrients into the ecosystem. Phosphorus is a limiting fresh water nutrient which significantly makes the water to be eutrophic. Our research mainly focuses on nutrient removal mainly phosphorus from domestic wastewater by using Heated Aluminium Oxide Particles (HAOPs) prepared synthetically. Comparing those HAOPs with the HAOPs synthesized using municipal solid waste (waste aluminium tin, medicinal foil). Chemical precipitation is one of the major processes adopted for the synthesis of adsorbent in achieving less or no phosphate in wastewater. HAOPs prepared synthetically showed greater efficiency (98%) followed by waste tin (85%) and medicinal foil (51%).The removal efficiency was proportional to the adsorbent dosage. Our main aim is to produce a low cost adsorbent for phosphorus removal and incorporating these possible solutions into the domestic wastewater treatment plant in order to maintain a sustainable environment.