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Maximizing Denitrification during Soil Filtration of Sewage Water¹

ABSTRACT

Two methods were developed to remove 80% of the nitrogen from secondary sewage effluent during soil filtration by using soil columns. No external energy source was needed to achieve denitrification with either method, and the volumes of water applied far exceeded irrigation rates for cropland. For the first method nitrogen removal was increased exponentially by decreasing the infiltration rate from 35 to 15 cm/day, which allowed nitrates formed during dry periods to mix with sewage effluent infiltrated during the succeeding flooding periods and provided a C to NO₃-N ratio favorable for denitrification. In a second method, nitrogen was removed by collecting high-nitrate water after soil filtration, mixing it with sewage effluent, and recycling the mixture through the soil.

Key Words: nitrification • waste water • nitrogen • eutrophication

¹ Contribution from the Agricultural Research Service, USDA.

² Research Soil Chemist, Soil Scientist, and Agricultural Engineer, U. S. Water Conservation Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ 85040. Dr. Whisler is now Professor of Soil Physics, Department of Agronomy, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762.

Received for publication February 14, 1975.