Analysis of the impacts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium supplementation on biofilter performance for organic carbon removal was studied on laboratory-scale biofilter columns. Three dual media biofilter columns were fed with synthetic raw water C:N:P ratios of 546:24:1, 100:10:1, and 25:5:1 (w/w) to simulate nutrient limited and two nutrient supplemented conditions, respectively. Research found that air-scour versus water only backwash improved the nutrient limited dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal by 8%. In addition, nutrient supplementation and backwash alteration improved DOC removals by 19% for the 25:5:1 column and 14% for the 100:10:1 column. Potassium supplementation with the 25:5:1 C:N:P ratio column had no discernible effect on DOC removal. No correlation with phospholipid (7–474 nmol P/g media) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (0.6 × 105–32.74 × 105 pg ATP/g media) values with DOC removal were found. Nutrient availability was found to influence DOC removal, demonstrating its importance when utilizing biofiltration for treatment of source waters.
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Research Article|
September 17 2016
Influence of nutrient supplementation on DOC removal in drinking water biofilters
Sahil Dhawan;
Sahil Dhawan
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Onita D. Basu;
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
E-mail: [email protected]
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Bahman Banihashemi
Bahman Banihashemi
2Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Water Supply (2017) 17 (2): 422–432.
Article history
Received:
March 08 2016
Accepted:
August 30 2016
Citation
Sahil Dhawan, Onita D. Basu, Bahman Banihashemi; Influence of nutrient supplementation on DOC removal in drinking water biofilters. Water Supply 1 March 2017; 17 (2): 422–432. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2016.146
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