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Exterior of ammonia-phosphorus treatment facility, October 2004
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Removing ammonia through advanced treatment
Onondaga Lake is a small waterbody that suffers from algal
blooms. To reduce these blooms and their adverse
effects, Onondaga County has added ammonia treatment to the
effluent of the Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant. This plant serves most of
Syracuse and many adjacent areas.
The County has chosen to use biological aerated
filters (BAFs) to lower ammonia in the effluent. The
technology is used extensively in Europe and has
proven its effectiveness in a demonstration project
that the County has completed.
Testing ammonia treatment technology.
It is critical that the technology be effective
because Onondaga County's treatment goal is to reduce
ammonia to 2 mg/L during summers and to 4 mg/L in
winters. In the near futurethe year 2012the County
will further reduce ammonia, to 1.2 mg/L in the summer
and 2.4 mg/L in the winter.
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Southern half of the BAF gallery
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Eighteen new tanks were built for the ammonia
treatment. The tanks are filled with polystyrene
beads. These beads expand the surface area of the
wastewater. Special bacteria in the tanks nitrify the
nitrogen in the ammonia. Here are a few facts about
the ammonia treatment:
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466 trillion biostyrene beads were installed in the eighteen BAF cells. Each bead is 3.6 millimeters (0.14 inch) in diameter.
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130,000 nozzles allow treated effluent to leave the cells while trapping the beads for continued use.
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Each of the eighteen BAF cell holds 273,000 gallons of water effluent, totaling nearly 5 million gallons.
The result will be a better habitat for fish and
wildlife, less algae, and a more aesthetically
pleasing Onondaga Lake.
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