Phosphorus removal using Ca-rich hydrated oil shale ash as filter material – The effect of different phosphorus loadings and wastewater compositions

We studied the phosphorus (P) binding capacity of Ca-rich alkaline filter material – hydrated oil shale ash (i.e. hydrated ash) in two onsite pilot-scale experiments (with subsurface flow filters) in Estonia: one using pre-treated municipal wastewater with total phosphorus (TP) concentration of 0.13–17.0 mg L−1 over a period of 6 months, another using pre-treated landfill leachate (median TP 3.4 mg L−1) for a total of 12 months. The results show efficient P removal (median removal of phosphates 99%) in horizontal flow (HF) filters at both sites regardless of variable concentrations of several inhibitors. The P removal efficiency of the hydrated ash increases with increasing P loading, suggesting direct precipitation of Ca-phosphate phases rather than an adsorption mechanism. Changes in the composition of the hydrated ash suggest a significant increase in P concentration in all filters (e.g. from 489.5 mg kg−1 in initial ash to 664.9 mg kg−1 in the HF filter after one year in operation), whereas almost all TP was removed from the inflow leachate (R2 = 0.99). Efficiency was high throughout the experiments (median outflow from HF hydrated ash filters 0.05–0.50 mg L−1), and P accumulation did not show any signs of saturation.