Air Force personnel stationed in remote areas for extended periods of time needed a solution for their waste water to stay within World Health Organization (WHO) and United States EPA regulations for surface discharge.
The system needed to be mobile — ideally housed in a small trailer — for easy transport to any site, yet capable of treating human waste, particularly organic materials Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN).
Technology available from Water Energy solved the problem. An ozone waste treatment system capable of oxidizing the organics present in the waste stream reduced the BOD and TKN.
The TKN was oxidized to ammonia followed by nitrite followed by nitrate. The corresponding TKN was reduced since TKN is a measure of organic nitrogen plus ammonia and does not include nitrite or nitrate. In order to reduce the total nitrogen, denitrification must occur to convert the nitrate to nitrogen gas.
The effluent concentration introduced to the ozone treatment following electrocoagulation was ~240 mg/l BOD and ~62 mg/l TKN. The effluent requirements were less than 10 mg/l for BOD and less than 2mg/l respectively for TKN. The waste flow rate was ~5 gpm with ~2 gpm to be returned to the electrocoagulation step for enhancing flocculation. In all, the system was capable of handling ~7 gpm continuous flow or ~l0,080 gpd in a 24 hour period.
The ozone treatment system provided a viable solution for the wastewater treatment needs of the Air Force that helped the overall waste water treatment system meet WHO and EPA regulations. Based on the limited space available, this approach provided adequate organics reduction while minimizing the cost required for ozone generation.
