Efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds removal in hydroponic wastewater treatment plant

Wastewater treatment with the use of plants is one of the most promising treatment technologies for municipal, domestic and industrial wastewater. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction of biogenic compounds concentrations in municipal wastewater treated with the use of hydroponic technology as a tertiary treatment. Research was conducted to assess the suitability of hydroponic lagoon use for municipal wastewater treatment. Samples of sewage for its quality tests were taken from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in the south-western part of Poland. Average efficiencies of nutrients removal were calculated. Analyses show that the effectiveness of purification is similar for systems with and without the use of the third stage of purification and reached around 82-83% for total nitrogen and 77-79% for ammonium nitrogen. N-NO2 and N-NO3 removal efficiency was very low for both analysed systems where for total phosphorus and phosphates it oscillated around 83-84%.