Long-term operational studies of lab-scale pumice-woodchip packed stormwater biofilters

Abstract

The performance of three pumice-woodchip packed stormwater biofilter (PWSWBF) systems with three packing volume ratios of pumice to woodchip (1:2, 1:1 and 2:1) were compared. The results show that the PWSWBF system packed with a lower percentage of woodchip attained a higher removal efficiency of TCOD, TN, NH-N and TP, whereas all three systems completely removed nitrate. The highest removal efficiencies for TCOD, TN, NH-N, NO-N and TP were 95%, 70%, 86%, 100% and 100%, respectively. In the biofilter with a lower percentage of woodchip, the pollutants that get removed through aerobic biological processes were removed more significantly, which is attributed to less oxygen depletion via woodchip decomposition, which is common under wet conditions. Nitrate was significantly removed via denitrification in all three systems, indicating that the woodchip that occupied one-third of the main media was sufficient for denitrification, and also that the oxygen condition inside the column was proper for denitrification to proceed. A smaller amount of woodchip as the packing material also mitigated the adverse effect of the release of organics from the media during the initial period. In addition, the system showed very good buffering capacity, in that the outflow pH was constant within the optimal range for microorganism growth.

Sustainability Performance of Bioretention Systems with Various Designs

“…Sand is a commonly used filter material (FAWB, 2009;Fassman et al, 2013;Tirpak et al, 2021), compost amendment (Fassman et al, 2013 and a submerged zone (Blecken et al, 2009;Zinger et al, 2013) has been evaluated internationally. The implementation of biochar and (to limited extend) pumice has received increasingly interest (Mohanty et al, 2018;Cheng et al, 2017).…”

“…Mohanty et al (2018) concluded that biochar can have both positive and negative impacts on P removal rates and hence, the P removal rate was assumed to be unaffected by biochar. When pumice was used as a component in the filter material, the P removal was enhanced (Cheng et al, 2017).…”

Assessment of Potential Use of a Composite Based on Polyester Textile Waste as Packing Elements of a Trickle Bed Bioreactor

“…Waste is certainly a cheap and widely available material. The possibility of using some waste materials, e.g., used tires [34][35][36][37][38], acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) from waste electrical and electronic equipment [39], straw [40][41][42] and wood [40,43], as a substrate for biofilm formation has been investigated in the literature. Attempts have also been made to test textile materials, which are not classified as waste materials, as packing elements, e.g., cotton fabric [44] and polyester non-woven fabric [45].…”

The use of pumice amended with sand media for domestic wastewater treatment in vertical flow constructed wetlands planted with lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)

“…As a low cost material, pumice has been used as a potential alternative material for pollutant removal from wastewater. Using the laboratory scale, Cheng et al (2018) examined the use of pumice-woodchip packed stormwater biofilter (PWSWBF) for pollutant removals from livestock farm stormwater. The results showed that the PWSWBF had high removal efficiency for TCOD (95%), TN (70%), NH 4 -N (86%), NO 3 -N (100%) and TP (100%), indicating that the presence of pumice significantly affect the removal of pollutants.…”