• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.136-142
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• 2018

The river water source of Saidabad Surface Water Treatment Plant at Dhaka, Bangladesh, is deteriorated too much to be treated by conventional treatment process due to excessive ammonia pollution. In order to improve the raw water quality before it enters into the main treatment chain, a pilot study was conducted for pre-treatment of the raw water. The objective is to investigate the rate of reduction of ammonia using the Meteor pilot, a biological pretreatment system, which is a laboratory scale Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor with a nominal volume of hundred liters, filled with 50 L of Meteor 660 media. The reduction of ammonia was quite significant on average 73%, while the reduction of COD was in a range from 20 to 60%. The Meteor pilot was able to treat and nitrify the raw water and produce an effluent that respects the guarantee of ammonia < $4.0mg\;NH_3-N/L$ when the raw water ammonia concentration was < $15mg\;NH_3-N/L$. The study identified operating parameters necessary to achieve the desired goal of adequate ammonia removal. The study results would benefit a range of systems across the country by providing guidance on the design and operation of a biological pre-treatment system for ammonia removal.