During the water quality and sludge characterization phase, average effluent quality over the course of a day was not found to be impaired during a 7-month sampling and monitoring study at the three trout farms. However, effluent quality was found to change significantly during times of high farm activity (i.e. feeding, harvesting, cleaning, etc.). Normalized Total Suspended Solids (TSS) concentrations were found to be as high as 115 mg/l during harvesting and 63 mg/l during feeding. Solids characterization studies proved farm waste solids degrade over time and that their particle size distributions are a function of the feed size and activity of a certain raceway. Waste solids accumulation studies proved that the solids removal efficiency of farm sediment traps were very low, and after a certain period of time, they reached capacity due to particle scouring. A pilot plant was constructed in the water and sludge treatability phase to prove a baffled settling scheme was sufficient to treat average and peak TSS concentrations during a normal workweek. The study found optimal TSS removals at detention times of 15-20 minutes, and overflow rates of 77.4 – 48.9 m3/m2·d. Given economic, spatial, and operational constraints, sedimentation was found to be the most feasible treatment technology for raceway-system trout farms. / Master of Science

The ability of a self-contained denitrification system, using fermentation products from waste fish solids, to maintain reliable performance was studied. Denitrification performance was described kinetically and stoichiometrically under different initial nitrate-nitrogen and soluble organic carbon to nitrate-nitrogen ratios. Characterization of soluble organic carbon (measured as soluble chemical oxygen demand, sCOD) indicated that volatile fatty acids (VFA) were generated during the fermentation of the waste fish solids. The results from batch experiments showed that over the range of initial nitrate concentrations studied, complete denitrification was achieved within 6 hrs. sCOD, nitrite, and nitrate profiles across several batch experiments showed that transient nitrite accumulations occurred, but the maximum measured concentrations never completely inhibited nitrate removal. The results suggested that the rate of denitrification was influenced by the initial sCOD to nitrate-nitrogen ratio when transient nitrite concentrations remained below 20 mg/L. However, when nitrite-nitrogen exceeded 25 mg/L, the rate of denitrification was negatively correlated with the maximum measured nitrite-nitrogen concentration. The stoichiometric carbon requirement was not correlated to any parameters believed to influence carbon consumption. After complete denitrification was achieved residual sCOD was still measured, which could not be identified as VFAs. Batch aerobic treatment of denitrified effluent resulted in a 60 to 70 % removal of the residual sCOD when allowed to react for 8 days. It was further determined that the residual sCOD exerted an oxygen of 5.81 on g COD/g C. Additional studies were conducted to maximize sCOD production during fermentation. Increasing the fermentation temperature from 28 oC to 40 oC facilitated a 36 % increase in the specific sCOD production rate (g sCOD/ g fish solids applied). In addition to sCOD production, ammonia production increased 20 % when the fermentation was conducted at the elevated temperature. An analysis comparing the cost of methanol addition to support denitrification to the cost associated with fermenting waste fish solids indicated that supplementing fermentation products with methanol resulted in the least costly strategy for promoting denitrification of an aquaculture waste stream. / Master of Science