Efficacy of a pilot-scale wastewater treatment plant upon a commercial aquaculture effluent: I. Solids and carbonaceous compounds

A pilot-scale wastewater treatment station was built and operated at a commercial recirculating aquaculture facility in order to initiate, characterize and optimize the operation of a treatment strategy for effluent recovery and reuse. The treatment train consisted of sedimentation, denitrification, ozonation, trickling filter treatment, and chemical flocculation. The study consisted of four different sets of treatment conditions, differentiated by alternative use of 6 or 4 lpm flow and recycling rates, ozone doses between 36.6 and 82.5 mg O3/l water, and 6- or 9-min ozonation time. The effects of treatment on solids and dissolved organic compounds are reported here. Over 70% of solids were removed by sedimentation under all experimental conditions. At the end of treatment, up to 99% of TSS was removed due to the combined action of ozonation and chemical flocculation. COD removal was not significantly different among experimental conditions by sedimentation (59.2–62.7%, p > 0.05), but was positively correlated with ozone dose (slope = 0.452, r2 = 0.99), yielding total COD removal η(CODt) of 19.8–40.7%. Of these amounts, 60.4–66.5% of COD was removed with foam, while the balance was mineralized. The ozone reactivity was 83.7% at a dose of 82.5 mg O3/l water. The ozone consumption coefficient Y(O3/CODox) for COD oxidized was 1.92–2.23 g/g O3 COD and 0.70–0.78 g O3/g COD when total COD removed was considered. Overall, 87.9–92.4% of COD was removed by the treatment train, to an average of 44 mg/l at the highest ozone dose, a value 3.3–3.9 times less than in fish tanks. Under the same conditions, cBOD5 was reduced by 88%, 3.8–4.1 times less than in fish tanks. The water’s biodegradability was increased by over 20%. DOC did not change significantly through the treatment train, and fluctuated through the system due to methanol addition to support denitrification. Work with the pilot station showed that the treatment strategy employed could support effective recovery and recycling of aquaculture effluent, although salts and refractory organics may accumulate in the system.