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alloushhy

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High ammonia level
Aug 15^th, 2012, 4:48am

Dear All,

Please find below the treated water characteristics from the STP:

Sample 1

pH: 6.3
TSS: < 6 mg/l
COD: < 10 mg/l
BOD5: 6 mg/l
Ammonia-Nitrogen as NH3-N: 84 mg/l
Total Phosphorus as p: 1.8 mg/l

Sample 2

pH: 7.7
TSS: < 6 mg/l
COD: < 10 mg/l
BOD5: < 15 mg/l
Turbidity: < 21 FAU
Ammonia-Nitrogen as NH3-N: 68 mg/l
Total Phosphorus as p: 9.25 mg/l

Is there any interpretation for the high level of ammonia along with low leve lof BOD and COD?
Regards

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The sludge judge

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Re: High ammonia level
Reply #1 - Aug 15^th, 2012, 6:55am

It appears your hetertrophic (BOD removing) bacteria are performing well, but you're not nitrifying.

Here's some of the things to look for and make sure they're in place

Sludge age needs to be greater than around 8 days
pH needs to be between 7 and 8.5
You need a residual of alkalinity of at least 50 mg/L at the end of the process
DO needs to be around 2 mg/L or greater

The pH is too low on samle one and should be corrected.

I'd double check the ammonia results as well. With ammonia that high you'd usually see an increase in the BOD5 due to nitrification in the test. Are you using your seed for the BOD test?

best regards,

Ryan

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Flannery YaBB Newbies Offline I love Water and Wastewater.com Posts: 17 Virginia Gender: Company or Organization: Novozymes	Re: High ammonia level Reply #2 - Aug 15^th, 2012, 8:23am I agree with Ryan, and would suggest sharing your HRT and MLSS. Perhaps you're not getting enough interaction (time + mass) with nitrifying cultures or your nitrifiers are continually being washed out (i.e. low sludge age).
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C. Gillen

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Re: High ammonia level
Reply #3 - Aug 17^th, 2012, 9:58am

Hi alloushhy,
I agree with Ryan and Flannery. In addition to looking at DO and alkalinity check on the incoming NH4-N and TKN. Also what is the temperature?
Take a bucket of activated sludge from the aeration tank near the outlet. Add aeration using an aquarium pump and air stones. Take a sample and measure NH4-N and pH. Allow to react for 24 hours and check pH and NH4-N again to see if there is any reduction.

best regards,
Cgillen

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RoCSmith Junior Member Offline Posts: 68 Ohio Gender: Company or Organization: YSI	Re: High ammonia level Reply #4 - Aug 18^th, 2012, 9:11pm The N and P concentrations are higher than expected even if nitrification is not occurring. Are there any recycles from an anaerobic digester?
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alloushhy YaBB Newbies Offline I love Water and Wastewater.com Posts: 49 Company or Organization: EWT	Re: High ammonia level Reply #5 - Aug 21^st, 2012, 12:09am Dear All, The system consists of equalizing tank, biological compartment, settling tank and treated water storage tank. I have sent sample to the lab to test the incoming NH4 and total nitrogen. I will keep you posted. Regards.
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Geoff God Member Offline Posts: 1007 Gender: Company or Organization: Retired. :-)	Re: High ammonia level Reply #6 - Aug 21^st, 2012, 7:23am alloushhy, It would help if you told us what effluent quality you are trying to achieve and what the plant was designed to produce in terms of effluent parameters. Cheers
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alloushhy YaBB Newbies Offline I love Water and Wastewater.com Posts: 49 Company or Organization: EWT	Re: High ammonia level Reply #7 - Aug 21^st, 2012, 7:28am The plant was designed to product effluent with the following characteristics: BOD< 10 mg/l COD < 50 mg/l TSS< 10 mg/l NH4 < 10 mg/l Regards
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