Two nanofiltration membranes, a thin film composite (TFC) membrane, a cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane, were tested as pretreatment alternatives to extend the effective life of GAC at Mililani Wells I, Oahu, Hawaii. TFC membranes achieved excellent 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP), and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) removal percentages whereas CTA membranes performed very poorly. TFC membranes showed promising signs of reducing total organic carbong (TOC) from the nanofiltration unit influent. In Mililani waters, only TCP is present in large amounts. It is suggested that further studies should be conducted where there is a chance of observing membrane's performance against high quantities of 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB), and DBCP. Due to the lack of trained personnel, not many TOC analyses were conducted. It is proven that nanofiltration is a viable treatment alternative and a pilot scale study should be conducted in the future taking economics also into consideration. / Thesis (M. S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-48). / UHM: Has both book and microform. / Water Resources Research Center

Laboratory lysimeters were used to investigate the behaviour, over time, of a humid west coast forest soil under intermittent primary municipal waste water irrigation. Mineral soil packed to a depth of 69 cm and to a uniform density of about 0.9 gm per cm³ was covered with a forest floor 9 cm thick. Sintered glass bead tensiometers were used to gauge the water potential distributions in the soil lysimeters. Irrigation and drainage systems were designed to maintain constant rates of waste water application and facilitate measurement of drainage rates. Two groups of soil lysimeters each with triplicate samples, were loaded with waste water at the rates of 0.23 cm per day ( 37 cm³ per day ) and 0.47 cm per day ( 75 cm³ per day ) for a period of 9 months. The soil lysimeters were incubated at a temperature of about 15.5 degrees Centigrade. The total amounts of nitrogen added to both groups of soil lysimeters were 223.7 gm and 436.9 gm or equivalent to 1.4 % and 2.7 % of the total nitrogen of the original soil, respectively. Renovations of wastewater in terms of nitrogen were 75 % and 43 % with respect to the two groups of soil lysimeters. Renovations in terms of phosphorus were more than 99 % in both groups of soil lysimeters. Retention of nutrients by the soil was increased with time under favourable aerobic conditions. Uptake of nutrients by vegetation in the field would minimize leaching losses. Results from this experiment indicated no significant changes in the physical and chemical behaviour of the soils. Proper design of the waste water irrigation system in terms of loading would maximize the efficiency of renovation without deteriorating the behaviour of the soils. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis contains the results and discussion of an exploratory investigation into the application of Crossflow Microfiltration (CFMF) for solid/liquid separation in biological wastewater treatment systems. The principal objective of the study was to assess the influence of CFMF on the performance of identified biological wastewater treatment systems. It was not the objective to optimise filtration performance. A literature review indicated that the crossflow mode of filtration has been widely accepted as a unit operation in the fermentation industry. The filtration mode is now being applied not only for solid/liquid separation but also for separations on a molecular and ionic level. Very few applications of crossflow filtration in the context of biological wastewater treatment solid/liquid separation are reported in the literature. The reasons for this limited experience would appear to be the scale involved and the perceived high costs; separations in the fermentation industry are usually conducted at relatively small scale (laboratory or pilot-scale) and involve high-value products, justifying high capital and operating costs. Also, the high level of separation performance attained is perhaps not necessary for many wastewater treatment applications. No doubt these reservations are largely valid. However, these arguments cannot be applied equally to all filtration methods and wastewater treatment schemes. For example, the costs of microfiltration are substantially less than ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis, and in certain cases effluents with extremely low suspended solids contents may be required. In the light of these observations an investigation of CFMF for solid/liquid separation in biological wastewater treatment systems appears justified. Two biological treatment systems were selected for study: the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor and the Activated Sludge system. The envisaged benefits accruing from the application of CFMF were different in each case.

M.Ing. / A number of distinctly different local and international media specifications are currently being used in South Africa. Along with some opposing requirements, these specifications all specify different testing procedures to be used in the evaluation of filter media. Furthermore the already confusing situation is being complicated by a lack of knowledge as to the general properties of South African filter media ...

Three systems for filtering polluted river water for use in subsurface irrigation have been designed, operated and evaluated. One system consisted of filtering the water through filter basins covered with grass. The second system used geotextiles in filter basins. The third system consisted of flooding a section of a field. In this system, the water was filtered as it moved through the soil towards the subsurface drainage/irrigation drain pipes. / It was found that grass filter basins are very efficient in removing sediment from river water. Grass filter basins having drain pipes placed in trenches 30 cm wide backfilled with sand gave the best results. More than 90% of sediments were removed from the river water. From the outflow measurements, it was found that less than 0.2% of the field to be irrigated needs to be devoted to the filtration system. / Important filter design parameters, namely filtration rates per unit area of filter basin and per unit length of filter trench and drain pipe, were determined. / Due to the fast clogging of the geotextile, filtration of river water through basins covered with geotextile was found to be impractical and expensive, as compared to filtration using water tolerant grasses as a basin cover. / Flooding a section of the crop land combined with controlled drainage was found to be an efficient way of irrigating maize crop. The yields obtained with this system were comparable with those obtained with conventional subsurface irrigation. Flood irrigation combined with controlled drainage would be particularly commendable on relatively flat fields which have subsurface drains.

An activated unsaturated sand filter (AUSF) is one of only a few of the filtration technologies utilized to treat waters and wastewaters that use unsaturated filter media. AUSF employs sand coated with potassium permanganate and operates with an open chamber allowing free air flow into the column of sand. The AUSF also benefits from operation without the need for a sedimentation unit. Previous studies have demonstrated the efficient removal of iron and manganese using an AUSF, however, to date there are still very limited studies available that use AUSF technology for the removal of metals from waters and wastewaters. Thus, there is an urgent need and opportunity to exploit this technology further. This research was conducted in order to develop and study the characteristics and subsequent operational performance of a novel AUSF media. The study focuses on the removal of copper, manganese, zinc and nickel from a synthetic wastewater and extends current knowledge to a passive aeration process rather than the active aeration used in the previous study by Lee et. al. (2004). The characterisation involved the use of sieving, Brunauer- Fmmett-Teller (BET) analysis, water evaporation studies and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for structural analysis such as particle size, surface area, porosity and topography. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), acid/alkali resistance, isoelectric point determination and acid digestion analysis were used to determine the chemical constituency, chemical stability, electrical charge properties and the binding efficiency of the media. Finally, tracer studies were employed to determine the flow characteristics through the particle media. The manganese coated sand was proven effective for the removal of copper in both agitated tank batch studies and continuous column studies. The batch studies showed that the equilibrium sorption of copper followed a Langmuir isotherm and the sorption rate was best modelled using the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This suggests that adsorption is taking place as a single homogeneous layer on the surface of the sand particle via the chemisorption method. The Weber-Morris and Bangham models were used to determine the rate-controlling mechanism and this was found to be predominantly intra-particle diffusion. This was confirmed for column studies using the Bohart-Adams model that demonstrated that liquid-film mass transfer was not significant. Several mechanisms of metal removal are proposed and these include precipitation, electrostatic attraction, adsorption, ion exchange and complex ion formation. The column studies demonstrated that dispersion was low under the operating conditions and plug flow performance could be inferred, thus justifying the use of the AUSF model employed. Copper was best removed when operating as an unsaturated particle bed and the removal capacity was increased by approximately 100% when compared to a saturated particle bed. Moreover, the pH increase that occurs on exposure of the process water to the unsaturated column further improves removal capacity. Thus, there is no requirement for an expensive pH adjustment as a pre-treatment process prior to this unit operation. In addition, the removal capacity of the AUSF was demonstrated to increase with lower metal concentrations, lower water flow rates, smaller sand particles, an increase in manganese to sand ratio and an increase in particle bed height. The AUSF performance in removing metals followed the order Cu > Mn > Zn > Ni for individual and mixed component solutions and Cu > Ni > Zn > Mn for a synthetic wastewater typical of the electroplating industries. In conclusion, the novel manganese coated AUSF developed is effective in the removal of metals from solution and offers the potential of a sustainable low cost treatment method for the purification of waters and wastewaters.

M.Ing. / The Rietvlei Water Treatment Plant was extended with a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system after an exhaustive series of tests, which were started in 1994. Upon commissioning towards the middle of 1999, a year of close monitoring followed to measure the GAC performance at full-scale. After verification that the GAC does indeed ensure a high quality product under all conditions, the emphasis shifted to the optimisation of the GAC handling and regeneration system. Frequently moving the entire GAC inventory from the filters to an off-site regeneration plant and back requires significant operational effort and contributes a major part of the total cost of the GAC system. A number of systematic investigations were carried out in response to a number of practical questions that arose at Rietvlei. The first part of the study was directed towards tracking and quantifying the GAC on and off site. The main findings were that 10.0% of the GAC is lost from the filter during backwashing (0.3%) and removal of GAC from the filter for regeneration (9.7%). The sump traps not all this GAC and 2.3% of the total inventory is lost to the river. Inserting a sieve at the outlet of the sump can eliminate this loss. A further 80.3% of the GAC in a filter is removed for regeneration, of which 18.7% is lost during the regeneration process. The minimising off this loss can only be achieved through the optimisation of the regeneration process, which falls within the domain of the regeneration contractor. The second part of the study was directed at the behaviour of the GAC whilst within the filter bed. The porosity and sphericity was determined by laboratory tests and calculations. The porosity was found to be 0.69 for the 12 x 40 size carbon and 0.66 for the 8 x 30 size carbon and the sphericity was found to be 0.67 for the 12 x 40 size carbon and 0.66 for the 8 x 30 size carbon. By using a calibrated bed expansion model, the bed expansion could be calculated at 9°C and 23°C for the two carbons gradings; the maximum temperature range experienced at Rietvlei. The main finding of this part of the study was that the average available freeboard is 650 mm for the 12 x 40 grading and 430 mm for the 8 x 30 grading, and therefore no GAC should wash over the weir at all during backwashing. The third part of the study measured the physical changes of the GAC found at different points in the GAC cycle. The main findings were that the small fraction of GAC washed out of the bed during backwashing and removal has a finer grading, higher apparent density and lower adsorption capacity than the GAC in the filter bed. There seems to be no marked attrition of the carbon or generation of fines during the removal and transport of the GAC to the regeneration plant. After regeneration, there was a 7% decrease in apparent density and a 30% increase in adsorption capacity. The final part of the study correlated the adsorption capacity of the GAC with its time in use as well as UV254 removal. After regeneration, UV254 removal begins at approximately 20% and declines to 14% after 400 days of operation, and to 10% after 600 days. After regeneration, the iodine number begins at approximately 800, declines to 600 after 400 days of operation, and to 500 after 600 days.

No description available.

This study investigated the effectiveness of vegetative filter strips (VFS) in removing phosphorus from surface runoff. Dissolved and particulate nutrients were treated separately due to differing transport and removal mechanisms. Nutrient transport in VFS appears to be a function of runoff rate, concentration and size distribution of suspended solids, and biological factors that influence hydrologic and chemical processes in filter strips. Three sets of experimental field plots were constructed to simulate VFS. Each set consisted of three plots containing sediment and nutrient source areas and 0.0, 4.6, or 9.1 m grass filter strips. Artificial rainfall was applied to the plots, and surface runoff, soil, and plant material samples were collected and physically and chemically analyzed. The VFS reduced surface runoff, suspended solids, and phosphorus losses. Most removal of sediment and phosphorus was accomplished in the first few meters of the VFS. The filter strips did not remove phosphorus as effectively as sediment, due to their ineffectiveness for filtering dissolved phosphorus and sediment-bound phosphorus associated with fine particles. The VFS often increased orthophosphorus losses in surface runoff. Laboratory batch experiments of phosph~rus desorption reaction suggested that plant residues, living plant canopy, and soil components of the strips could release dissolved phosphorus to surface runoff. A modified Elovich equation and a diffusion-control model were used to describe the phosphorus release from the plant and soil materials. A computer model, GRAPH, was developed to simulate phosphorus transport in VFS by incorporating phosphorus transport submodels into the VFS model in SEDIMOT II, a stormwater and sediment transport model. The model considers the effects of advection processes, infiltration, biological uptake, phosphorus desorption from the soil surface to runoff, the adsorption of dissolved phosphorus to suspended solids in runoff, and the effects of dynamic changes in the sediment size distribution on chemical transport. GRAPH was verified using the results of the physical plot simulations. The model's predictions and observed phosphorus transport compared favorably. Sensitivity analysis suggested that sediment and phosphorus removal was sensitive to the input parameters in the order: filter length and width, grass spacing, and filter slope and surface roughness. Increased filter width and length and aboveground biomass increased orthophosphorus loss from VFS. / Ph. D.

M.S.