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The Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (Washington, D.C.) uses methanol as an external carbon source in a postdenitrification process, to achieve low effluent total nitrogen concentrations. This becomes more difficult in winter, at lower mixed liquor temperatures and higher flows, as a consequence of the kinetic behavior of the methanol-utilizing heterotrophs. The paper reports on an experimental batch test study conducted on Blue Plains postdenitrification sludge to investigate (1) the maximum specific growth rate of methanol-utilizing heterotrophs (l METH ); (2) the temperature dependency of the growth rate; and (3) the efficacy of alternate substrates (ethanol, acetate, and sugar). A limited number of tests were conducted on sludge from two other treatment plants with methanol addition. Water Environ. Res., 80, 417 (2008).

Facilities across North America are designing plants to meet stringent limits of technology (LOT) treatment for nitrogen removal (3-5 mg/L total effluent nitrogen). The anoxic capacity requirements for meeting LOT treatment are dependent on the growth rates of the denitrifying organisms. The Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWTP) is one of many facilities in the Chesapeake Bay region that is evaluating its ability to meet LOT treatment capability. The plant uses methanol as an external carbon source in a post-denitrification process. The process is very sensitive to denitrification in the winter. One approach to improve anoxic capacity utilization is to use an alternative substrate for denitrification in the winter to promote the growth of organisms that denitrify at higher rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate denitrification maximum specific growth rates for three substrates, acetate, corn syrup and methanol, at two temperatures (13 degrees C and 19 degrees C). These temperatures approximately reflect the minimum monthly and average annual wastewater temperature at the Blue Plains AWTP. The results suggest that the maximum specific growth rate (mu(max)) for corn syrup (1.3 d(-1)) and acetate (1.2 d(-1)) are higher than that for methanol (0.5d(-1)) at low temperature of 13 degrees C. A similar trend was observed at 19 degrees C.

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and hybrid bluegrass (Poa pratensis L. × Poa arachnifera) can both be successfully grown in the transition zone of the United States. However, each grass has limitations. Tall fescue is susceptible to the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani, whereas slow establishment and susceptibility to weed infestations limit hybrid bluegrass. Previous studies have shown the benefits of combining kentucky bluegrass with tall fescue in seeding mixtures. Research was conducted to evaluate the impact of two seeding combinations of hybrid bluegrass and tall fescue (one combination seeded at a 1.9:1 seed count ratio favoring tall fescue, the other combination seeded at a 1:1.8 seed count ratio favoring hybrid bluegrass) as well as monocultures of the species on turfgrass cover, weed species infestation, brown patch disease severity caused by R. solani, sod strength and species ecology. The seeding combinations had lower weed density during establishment and greater turf cover than the monoculture of hybrid bluegrass. The monoculture of tall fescue was subjected to more brown patch disease than the seeding combinations during and after the first year of establishment. Brown patch infestations likely reduced tall fescue cover and led to a species shift favoring hybrid bluegrass in the seeding combinations based on tiller count and weight data. Seeding combinations of tall fescue and hybrid bluegrass are beneficial from an epidemiological perspective because they reduce disease and weed infestations compared with monocultures of either species. From an agronomic perspective, the seeding combination favoring tall fescue provided the densest turf, whereas the seeding combination favoring hybrid had the greatest sod strength. Chemical name used: clopyralid (3,6 dichloropyridine-2 carboxylic acid)

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