TREATMENT OF AQUACULTURE WASTE LAGOON EFFLUENTS USING RECIRCULATING POLYGEYSER® TECHNOLOGY

 Rhine Perrin, EI*, Dr. Ronald Malone, Ph.D.,PE
 AST Filters
 New Orleans, La 70121
 Rhine.Perrin@ASTFilters.com
 

Facultative lagoons are widely used in the United States to treat agricultural and domestic wastes. While satisfactory for the treatment of aquaculture sludge, digestion ponds in most situations, lagoons cannot meet stringent ammonia standards required when discharging to impaired surface waters. Recirculating PolyGeysers have been developed to assure oxygen delivery required for organic and ammonia reduction from lagoon discharges. These units aerate and filter the waste stream 10-20 times prior to discharge which assures polishing of BOD and ammonia down to permitted levels.

The effectiveness of the RCPG to treat facultative lagoon effluents was studied over the course of a 5 month pilot scale test at a municipal lagoon in central Mississippi. A trailer mounted RCPG 10, a 10 ft3 model, was used during this test. The RCPG 10 is capable of throughput flows ranging from 1-10 gpm, and recirculates upwards of 100 gpm. This 1:100 to 10:100 flow ratio ensures sufficient oxygen transfer rates through the bead bed.  During this study, ammonia, BOD, and TSS concentrations being discharged from the lagoon were seen to be as high as 15, 30, and 50 mg/L respectively. The unit continued to produce concentrations that met the new discharge requirements of <1/<3/<30 (Ammonia/BOD/TSS). BOD conversion rates averaged 1.5 to 2 kg/m3-day. VTRs ranged from .750 to 1.2 kg/m3-day with TAUs being calculated upwards of 2.5 kg/m3-day. These findings bode well for the Recirculating PolyGeyser being a simple, energy efficient solution for a problem that is plaguing the growth of aquaculture in the United States.