| Abstract: | The removal of ammonia and phosphorus from an artificial wastewater was studied in two lab-scale reed beds.During batch and continuous operations,it was found that ammonia was removed from the wastewater via a two-step process,sorption inside bed matrices followed by nitrification into nitrite and nitrate.Rapid decrease in the concentration of ammonia in the artificial wastewater was observed during the batch operation,whereas during the continuous operation,which lasted for 39 days,the percentage removal of ammonia decreased gradually with time before stabilizing at around 20%.The efficiency of phosphorus removal exhausted rapidly during the continuous operation,from 39% on the first day of operation to virtually zero after only 5 days.The results suggest that sorption (which may include ion exchange,adsorption,and biomass assimilation) serves as an initial step to remove ammonia and phosphorus from the wastewater,prior to any microbial transformations. |
