Enhancement of organic and nitrogen removal in up-flow floating filter media reactor for piggery wastewater treatment

Integrated up-flow floating media system utilised sponge cube floating bed for microbial attachment and suspended solid clarification. The first reactor was operated under anaerobic condition where high organic removal of more than 85% was reached. It was followed by anoxic/aerobic floating media reactors or chemical coagulation/air stripping units. When biological post treatment was employed, overall organic removal efficiency was up to 98%. In case of chemical post treatment, alum was applied at optimal dose of 1.0 gL–1 with COD, SS and colour removal of 88%, 97% and 93%, respectively. The air stripping process further removed more than 75% of ammonia nitrogen, yielding comparable effluent qualities to the biological process.