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Initial operating experiences of a nutrient

removal process (Modified Bardenpho) at
Kelowna, British Columbia

Article in Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering February 2011

DOI: 10.1139/l84-067

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 Initial operating experiences of a nutrient removal process (Modified Bardenpho) at
Kelowna, British Columbia'
W. K. OLDHAM
Department of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B . C . , Canada V6T I W5
AND
G . M . STEVENS
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13

Water and Wastewater Division, City of Kelowna, I435 Water Street, Kelowna, B . C . , Canada VIY 154
Received August 12, 1983
Revised manuscript accepted May 7, 1984

A new wastewater treatment plant that utilizes the "Modified Bardenpho" process for nutrient removal has recently been
commissioned in Kelowna, B.C. The 260 L/s facility (130 L/s in each of two parallel modules) has been operating at full
design flow through one module for over 6 months.
Two months of operating time was required to establish the nitrification-denitrification capabilities and to build up the
phosphorus release-uptake mechanism in the biomass. Subsequent to that start-up period, the process has been capable of
producing an effluent containing less than 5 mg/L total nitrogen and less than 0.3 mg/L orthophosphate when the influent
sewage has contained some 30 mg/L of nitrogen and 6 mg/L of phosphorus.
Key words: phosphorus removal, nitrogen removal, biological waste treatment, advanced waste treatment.

L'usine d'kpuration des eaux usCes construite rkcemment a Kelowna (Colombie Britannique) utilise le procCdC Bardenpho
modifik pour I'enlkvement des substances nutritives. Le traitement est form6 de nitrification, de dknitrification et d'enlkvement
microbiologique du phosphore (relargage et absorption).
For personal use only.

I1 a fallu 2 mois avant que le systkme n'atteigne son Cquilibre. Aprks cette @node de rnise en route l'usine a produit un
effluent contenant moins de 5 mg/L d'azote total et moins de 0,3 mg/L d'orthophosphates alors que I'affluent de l'usine
contenait 30 mg/L d'azote et 6 mg/L de phosphore.
Mots clks: dtphosphatage, dknitrification, traitement biologique des eaux usCes, traitements tertiaires.
[Traduit par la revue]
Can. J. Civ. Eng. 11. 474-479 (1984)

Introduction fy the provincial authorities, a process train as outlined

The new Kelowna Pollution Control Centre (KPCC)
was designed to operate in the "Modified Bardenpho"
or "Phoredox" mode (see Fig. 1) to achieve biological
removal of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Effluent
quality requirements for N and P , as well as for the
more general parameters, BOD, (biochemical oxygen
demand) and S S (suspended solids), are shown in
Table 1.
Some of the more important process design values
used for the Kelowna facility are summarized as fol-
lows: Q,, = 260 L/s ( 6 X lo6 US gpd); Q,, = 660 L/s
(15 x lo6 US gpd) (hydraulic design criterion); Tmi,=
10C in mixed liquor; influent C O D (chemical oxygen
demand) = 375 mg/L; influent BOD, = 200 mg/L;
influent total N = 35 mg/L; and influent total P =
6.5 mg/L.
Plant configuration
T o achieve the degree of treatment necessary to satis-
'This paper was presented at the 1983 Annual Conference
of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Ottawa,
Ontario, June 1-3.
in Fig. 2 was utilized. In terms of the broad objectives
of the waste management scheme, the following pro-
cess components are of interest.
(a) Bioreactor (see Fig. 3 )
T h e bioreactor is designed to reduce the soluble frac-
tions of BOD,, total N, and total P t o values below
those required for effluent quality. T h e phosphorus re-
quirement is met by creating an environment in which
the biomass is capable of extracting P from solution in
much greater quantity than actually required for
growth. The phosphorus can thereby be extracted from
the process as part of the sludge wasting stream.
Nitrogen removal is accomplished by sequential
nitrification-denitrification in a single sludge system,
with most of the total N lost from the system as nitrogen
gas.
(b) Final clar$et-s
Since the effluent requirements' are stringent with
respect to suspended solids, it is imperative that good
solids separation be continuously achieved on the out-
flow from the bioreactor. The final clarifiers were de-
 OLDHAM AND STEVENS 475

I 1 I I
0
I I I
b ANAEROBIC 1- + ANAEROBIC AEROBIC

FERMENTATION
b
RESPIRATION RESPIRATION
-
I-*
I
Candltlonlng (ANOXIC) BOO r*ductlon
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13

tor P uptaka O*nllrlflcotlon plus nllrlflcallm

I
I I

AEROBIC ANAEROBIC

RESPIRATION RESPIRATION

CLARIFIER C02 strlpplng plus (ANOXlC)

ory9*nallon to prav*nt D~nltr1t1catIon

furlher d.nltrltlcallon tor nom - r*cyc(.d P

FIG. 1. Modified Bardenpho process.

For personal use only.

TABLE1. Provincial permit require- disinfection in a contact basin designed for 2 h of de-
ments for KPCC effluent tention at design average flows. The maintenance of a
free chlorine residual is possible because of the high
Value not to be exceeded efficiency of nitrification designed into the system.
Parameter (mg/L)
(e) Waste activated sludge handling
BODS 8 To make it easy to use solids retention time (SRT) to
SS 7
Total N 6
control the bioreactor operation, the wasting of acti-
Total P 2 vated sludge is being done from the final cell of the
bioreactor, rather than from the clarifier underflow. An
additional benefit of using this wasting point arises
signed to function at solids loading rates recommended from the aerobic nature of the resulting waste stream,
for extended aeration plants, because the operating which in turn more or less ensures that the P content of
sludge age (or solids retention time) may be as high as the waste sludge is contained in the solids fraction. The
40 days. That design loading rate is about 8 kg/(m2-h) clarifier underflow, on the other hand, could have
at peak flow. undergone some P release to the water phase of the
mixture, which could adversely affect total P removal
( c ) Dual media filters in the treatment plant.
To help ensure excellent disinfection of the final ef- Disposal of the waste activated sludge (WAS) is via
fluent, and to provide a factor of safety regarding the composting with sawmill wastes-hence trucking to a
accomplishment of the effluent SS requirement, dual remote site is involved. To minimize trucking costs,
media automatic backwash filters were installed. The thickening of the WAS is desirable, but is restricted to
anticipated (and achieved) effluent SS was thereby less an aerobic thickening environment to ensure that P re-
than 3 mg/L. lease to the separated liquid stream does not occur.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) was the process of
( d ) Chlorination choice. It was designed to be capable of handling the
Because it is anticipated that the effluent from the anticipated WAS flows without the addition of poly-
KPCC will be used for irrigation of a variety of crops mers, and to give a 4% solids content in the float.
in rural areas with small land holdings, public health
considerations are paramount. To achieve good disin- Ifl Primary sludge handling
fection, the filtered effluent is subjected to free chlorine Primary sludge is pumped to a gravity thickening
 CAN. J. CIV. ENG. VOL. 11. 1984
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13

- * Mapnsllc Flow Meter

For personal use only.

S e w a p e plpe
-- - Sludge p l p e

FIG.2. Schematic of Kelowna Pollution Control Centre.

G F E D C A
Legend: + Main flow ---b Mixed l~quorflow ---b Return sludge

FIG.3. Biological reactor module.

tank (an old anaerobic digester), from which the super-
natant is returned to the process stream. Both the thick-
ened primary sludge and the DAF float is transferred to
a short-term storage vault, with trucking to the com-
posting site occurring therefrom.
(g) Equalization basin
To provide some measure of load equalization to the
bioreactor, the old activated sludge tank has been con-
verted into an equalization basin, which automatically
stores primary effluent during the peak hours of the day

30
-
J
p
: 20
T
Z 0'
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13
I0
0
I 11 PI 31 10 20 30 10 20 30 9 I9 29 8 18 28
MDI June July lw. 5.~1.
FIG. 4. Effluent ammonia nitrogen.
and releases it to the process during the low-flow night
hours.
Commissioning
During the last week of April 1982, the contents of
the old activated sludge tank (short SRT sludge) was
For personal use only.
transferred to one module of the bioreactor (see Fig. 2),
as was the primary effluent flow. Additionally, a small
amount of sludge from an existing long SRT treatment
plant was added to the new bioreactor.
Between May 1 and mid-November, the system was
operated continuously with all components generally on
stream as required, with the exception of the equal-
ization basin, which only went into service in October.
With one module of the bioreactor operating, and with
measured daily flows ranging from 88 to 295 L/s, com-
parison with the design data presented earlier shows
that the first 6i months of operation is a true indicator
of anticipated operation at full design flows.
Wasting of activated sludge on a consistent basis was
commenced in early July. Up to that time, only short
periods of wasting occurred in order to test the oper-
ation of the DAF units.
Treatment results-single module operation
Effluent quality from the new KPCC has been excep-
tional, especially when it is recognized that for the first
41 months of operation there were many interruptions to
"normal" operating procedures while various con-
tractors tested equipment and rectified deficiencies. All
samples taken to determine process efficiency have
been grab samples obtained during the day shift.
Conventional testing for BODS and SS in the filtered
effluent has shown values of < 10 mg/L and <4 mg/L,
respectively, at all times. More-detailed testing of sec-
ondary clarifier effluent has provided dissolved COD
results ranging from a low of 5 mg/L to a high of 70
OLDHAM AND STEVENS 477
30
-
J
P
: 20
10
8 I8 28 1 I5 '1 11 21 31 D 2 0 3 0 10 20 30 9 19 29 8 18 28 8 18 28 1 I5
Ocl. Nor. MOI June July lug. Ssp1 Ocl. Nor.
FIG.5. Effluent nitrate nitrogen.
mg/L, with the average being 29 mg/L. The total COD
in the primary clarifier effluent over this same period
averaged 200 mg/L (s.d. = 58 mg/L).
Nitrogen removal
Nitrogen content in the primary effluent has been
monitored by way of ammonia nitrogen only, so it can
be expected that total nitrogen will be perhaps 30%
higher. The ammonia N concentration in the primary
effluent has averaged 22 mg/L, with a standard devi-
ation of 4.8 mg/L.
Dissolved nitrogen forms in the secondary clarifier
effluent are quantified in Figs. 4 and 5 . Two primary
points to note are that essentially complete nitrification
was established within 1 month of initial start-up, and
that denitrification capabilities were present from the
beginning, with only a slight peak in average weekly
nitrates after 3-4 weeks of operation.
After nitrification and denitrification were estab-
lished, there was only 1 week when the average total
nitrogen exceeded the permit requirement (Sept 11 data
point). The high average ammonia-N concentration
during that week was caused by a single high day. That
reading, plus other single high-day values indicated by
the limits on Fig. 4 were explainable by two reasons:
(a) A partial loss of nitrification occurred on Sept. 2
owing to a gate between cell 2G (Fig. 3) and the main
flow channel being removed for repairs. Most of the
first aerobic zone was therefore bypassed.
(b) The other high ammonia-N values in mid-August
and mid-September were apparently caused by low
influent COD and high aeration tank oxygen levels,
combined with high mixed liquor temperatures. This
combination of operating conditions gave rise to rapid
loss of substrate in the recycle leg of the process (row
3 in Fig. 3). Dissolved ammonia values found in cell 3B
on these days (up to 23 mg/L) indicate that endogenous
 478 CAN. J. CIV. ENG;. VOL. 1 1 , 1984
Can. J. Civ. Eng. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Renmin University of China on 06/04/13
FIG. 6. Effluent orthophosphorus.
respiration was causing a high release of reduced nitro-
gen from the biomass. If some of this endogenous re-
lease had been present in cell 3D, it would not have
been nitrified by the time it reached the effluent.
Nitrate nitrogen in the secondary clarifier effluent has
been continuously below 4 mg/L since midJune, ex-
For personal use only.
cept on 1 day when a value of 5.6 mg/L was deter-
mined (see Fig. 5). Although no specific reason for this
somewhat high reading can be ascertained from the
data, it would appear to be related to a partial loss in
denitrification capability in the first anoxic zone (cells
2C-2E on Fig. 3). On that day, the nitrate-N content
in 2E rose to 3 mg/L, whereas it is normally below
2 mg/L.
It is interesting to note that good nitrogen removal
has been attainable in the Kelowna facility with an
average ratio of COD/NH3-N in the bioreactor influent
of 200122, or 9/ 1. This result is somewhat at odds with
conclusions of researchers in South Africa. For in-
stance, Marais et al. (1982), in their review of South
African experience, indicate that the Modified Bar-
denpho or Phoredox system can only achieve good total
nitrogen removal if the COD/TKN ratio is at least
1211. If it is assumed that NH3-N is about 80% of TKN
(total Kjeldahl nitrogen), then a required COD/NH3-N
ratio of about 1511 is indicated.
Phosphorus removal
The concentration of phosphorus in the influent flow
to the bioreactor has typically been between 5 and
6 mg/L. Until the composite sampler is operating, it is
not possible to describe the influent P concentration in
any more exact terms. Dissolved ortho-P in the second-
ary clarifier effluent is summarized in Fig. 6. Spot
checks with total ortho-P in the final plant effluent have
shown good correlation, with differences being no more
than 0.2 mg/L.
TABLE2. Orthophosphate scans
Dissolved ortho-P (mg/L)
Date Effluent Cell 1G Cell 2G Cell 2B
October 25 0.17 0.39 0.35 10.4
November 1 4.0 0.72 0.35 8.2
November 3 0.16 0.24 0.60 12.4
Examination of Fig. 6 shows that good phosphorus
removal was achieved within 2 months of initial plant
start-up. As anticipated from others' experience with
the process, good P removal was not obtained until
good P release into solution was occurring in the anaer-
obic zone (cells 3A, 2A, and 2B in Fig. 3). After the
first 2 months of operation, the dissolved ortho-P con-
centration had risen to about 10 mg/L from an initial
value of about 4.5 mg/L. By mid-July, dissolvedortho-
P in the anaerobic zone had risen to between 15 and
25 mg/L.
In mid-August, phosphorus in the effluent began to
increase (see Fig. 6). A review of plant records at that
time showed that the P content of the mixed liquor
solids leaving the bioreactor had reached a plateau at
about 6.25%. Assuming this P content to be a max-
imum attainable value, a phosphorus mass balance cal-
culation showed that an effluent P concentration of
about 1.7 mg/L was all that could be expected for the
summer sewage characteristics and the then current
plant operating conditions (Q = 170 L/s, MLSS
(mixed liquor suspended solids) = 3500 mg/L, influent
tot. P = 6 mg/L, SRT = 35 d). Wasting from the
bioreactor was subsequently increased from 3.3 to
4.5 L/s, and by the end of August the effluent phos-
phorus was again below 0.5 mg/L.
The subsequent phosphorus peak during the first
week in September was due to the pulling of the gate in
cell 2G, as mentioned previously, thus not allowing
sufficient aerobic time for the phosphorus released in
the anaerobic zone to be taken back into the biomass.
Two individual high readings for effluent ortho-P
occurred during the single-module phase of operations.
On June 16, an ortho-P value of 6.1 mg/L was recorded
at a time when the air supply had been out of service for
some 12 h. This failure apparently resulted in the occur-
rence of generally anaerobic conditions throughout the
bioreactor, with subsequent release of phosphorus.
On November 1, an effluent ortho-P concentration of
4 mg/L was measured. It is believed that this anoma-
lous result is due to a sampling error or a malfunction
in the Technicon Autoanalyzer. This explanation is up-
held by an analysis of ortho-P data in various cells (see
Fig. 3) of the bioreactor on November 1 and a "normal"
day such as October 25 or November 3. As the mixed
 OLDHAM AND STEVENS
liquor progresses from cell 2B (anaerobic), through 2G
and 1G to the effluent, there should be a general
progression to less dissolved ortho-P. As indicated in
Table 2, the effluent value for November 1 is not at all
defensible in terms of the other measured values in the
process on the same day. If that effluent value is re-
moved from Fig. 6, the average phosphorus concen-
tration for the week of November 7 is reduced to
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0. I2 mg/L, which is in line with the other weekly
averages.
Continuing plant operation
In mid-November, the process flow pattern was
changed from single-module operation to dual-module
operation so that process optimization studies could be
commenced. These ongoing studies are intended to de-
termine the importance of various design and oper-
ational parameters on the efficiencies of both nitrogen
and phosphorus removal. The research project, which is
funded by Environment Canada through the De-
partment of Supply and Services, is expected to take 2
years to complete.
Conclusions
For personal use only.
Based upon more than 6 months of plant operation at
design flows and loading (achieved by operating only
one of two modules), the nutrient analysis program
on plant influent and effluent justifies the following
conclusions.
(1) Nitrification and denitrification were well estab-
lished within I month of plant start-up, with effluent
nitrate-N values of about 3 mg/L and ammonia-N
View publication stats
479
values of about 1 mg/L being obtained thereafter.
(2) Phosphorus removal capabilities took 2 months to
become established. Subsequently, the system was
found to produce an effluent with an average ortho-
phosphate concentration of <0.5 mg/L as P, when the
influent to the bioreactor (primary clarifier effluent) had
an ortho-P concentration between 5 and 6 mg/L.
(3) Some individual analytical values for N and P in
the effluent were considerably higher than the averages,
but in every case except one the high values were ex-
plainable in terms of physical problems associated with
the start-up of such a complex facility. The one data
point that could not be easily explained was shown to be
suspect in its measured value.
(4) The first 6f months of operation give a strong
indication that the Modified Bardenpho system is
capable of providing an effluent with an average total N
content of 4-5 mg/L and a total ortho-P content of less
than 0.5 mg/L. Such results are shown to be obtainable
with a sewage having a COD/NH,N ratio of 911.
Acknowledgement
Portions of the data used herein were gathered with
funding received from Environment Canada through an
unsolicited proposal to the Department of Supply and
Services.
MARAIS, G. V. R., LOEWENTHAL, R. E., and SIEBRITZ, F.
1982. Review: Observations supporting phosphate removal
by biological excess uptake. IAWPR Post Conference
Seminar on Phosphate Removal in Biological Treatment
Processes, Pretoria, S.A.