An overland flow treatment removed 59 percent of N applied at a 50 pounds per acre per day rate. A media filter treatment transformed up to 32 percent of the inflow total N into nitrate when wastewater was recycled four times. Immobilization of nitrifying microorganisms in polymer pellets resulted in faster nitrification rates and smaller reactors. The rate of nitrification with polyvinyl alcohol pellets is about 360 ppm of ammonia-nitrogen per day. Solids separation has the potential to reduce N treatment required.
PAM treatment provides new alternatives for waste disposal.
The solids can be composted, processed for refeeding, or transported to nutrient deficient cropland. Its purpose is to help managers determine appropriate systems and their placement on the landscape for particular water quality problems. Waterfax is published periodically to provide information on current water quality issues. This is Waterfax 245 . Information on other projects is here .