Porous polymers embedded with iron carbon enhanced densified activated sludge formation and wastewater treatment.

Municipal wastewater treatment plants in China face significant challenges in effectively removing pollutants from low-strength wastewater with a low carbon-to-nitrogen (COD/N) ratio. This study proposes a novel approach incorporating porous polymers embedded with iron-carbon (PP-IC) into an activated sludge system to enhance treatment. The PP-IC accelerated the formation of densified activated sludge (DAS), characterized by small particle sizes (<200 μm), excellent settleability (sludge volume index: 61 mL/g), and improved pollutant removal efficiency, with total nitrogen and total phosphorus removal rates increasing by 14.

Filtration columns containing waste iron shavings, loofah, and plastic shavings for further removal of nitrate and phosphate from wastewater effluent.

A novel pilot-scale advanced treatment system combining waste products as fillers is proposed and established to enhance the removal of nitrate (NO-N) and phosphate (PO-P) from secondary treated effluent. The system consists of four modular filter columns, one containing iron shavings (R1), two containing loofahs (R2 and R3), and one containing plastic shavings (R4). The monthly average concentration of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) decreased from 8.