Biological phosphorus removal from a phosphorus-rich dairy processing wastewater

Dairy industry processing wastewaters consist mainly of dilutions of milk, milk products and cleaning solutions and, depending on the processes used, may be rich in phosphorus. In New Zealand and internationally, chemical removal of phosphorus is typically the phosphorus removal method of choice from dairy processing wastewaters. The enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process was investigated in this study as an alternative phosphorus removal option using a continuous activated sludge system. A synthetic dairy processing wastewater was firstly subjected to fermentation in an anaerobic reactor (HRT = 12 hrs, pH = 6.5, temperature = 35°C) resulting in a fermented wastewater with an average volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration of 1055 mg COD/L. The activated sludge reactor was operated in an AO configuration with an HRT of 2.5 days and an SRT of 15 days. Stable EBPR was exhibited with 42 mg P/L removed, resulting in a final sludge phosphorus content of 4.9% mg P/mg TSS. In the anaerobic zone (HRT = 2.85 hrs) the sludge had a phosphorus content of 3.16% mg P/mg TSS and a poly-β-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) concentration of 86 mg COD/g TS.