In the Netherlands, biological trickling filters without chemical pre-oxidation are generally applied to treat anaerobic groundwater, containing methane, iron, ammonium and manganese. Previous research showed that all compounds can be removed in one filter step and that not only the ammonia oxidation (by nitrification), but also the iron oxidation is often a biological process, despite oxygen saturated conditions and neutral pH. However, the optimal conditions for each process differs. In this paper, we report the preliminary results of a demonstration plant (40 m3 h–1) with two consecutive trickling filtration steps. The first highly loaded filter removed 1–1.5 ppm of methane and 5–6 ppm of iron with filtration rates up to 30 m h−1. The second filter step removed 5–6 ppm of ammonium and 0.5–0.6 ppm of manganese virtually completely at 2 m h−1. Quantitative (real time) polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) indicated that the growth of methane-oxidizing bacteria was marginal, but biological iron oxidation by Gallionella bacteria accounted for a quarter to over half of the total iron conversion.
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Research Article|
February 01 2013
Biological active groundwater filters: exploiting natural diversity
Weren W. J. M. de Vet
;
1
Oasen Drinking Water Company, Post Box 122, 2800 AC Gouda, The Netherlands2
Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands3
Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands
E-mail: weren.de.vet@oasen.nl
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Willem Jan Knibbe
;
Willem Jan Knibbe
1
Oasen Drinking Water Company, Post Box 122, 2800 AC Gouda, The Netherlands
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Luuk C. Rietveld
;
Luuk C. Rietveld
2
Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
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Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht
Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht
3
Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands
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Water Supply (2013) 13 (1): 29-35.
Article history
Received:
February 17 2012
Accepted:
June 14 2012
Citation
Weren W. J. M. de Vet, Willem Jan Knibbe, Luuk C. Rietveld, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht; Biological active groundwater filters: exploiting natural diversity. Water Supply 1 February 2013; 13 (1): 29–35. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2012.076
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Weren W. J. M. de Vet, Willem Jan Knibbe, Luuk C. Rietveld, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht; Biological active groundwater filters: exploiting natural diversity. Water Supply 1 February 2013; 13 (1): 29–35. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2012.076
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