Water technology company, Xylem, has supplied denitrification systems to three wastewater treatment plants in eastern China as part of a national strategy to improve wastewater treatment by 90% over five years.
Xylem’s Leopold elimi-nite denitrification system will support the improvement of wastewater quality for approximately ten million inhabitants in three Eastern China provinces.
Xylem’s Leopold elimi-nite system, incorporating its Leopold Type S Underdrain and FilterWorx control system, is already operational at the Jingkaiqu Third Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hefei, the capital of the Anhui Province. Treating 100,000 tonnes of wastewater a day, this is one of the most important plants in the region.
The Yangzhou Liuwei Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jiangsu Province, where Xylem has also provided denitrification technology, is situated at the centre of the densely populated Yangzhou metropolitan area and plays a vital role in treating effluent from the surrounding cities. The third installation at the Jingjiang Huahui City Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Jiangsu Province is also situated in a heavily populated region.
Discharge from wastewater treatment plants frequently contains high levels of nutrients which feed algae blooms. Xylem said its Leopold elimi-nite system uses a patented process control programme that uses deep-bed, mono-media filters to remove nutrients in the wastewater by breaking down nitrate to release nitrogen gas, leading to reduced impact on aquatic life. It also removes phosphorus and total suspended solids from wastewater Xylem said.
The system is engineered for use in plants where space is limited, as in the three Chinese plants the manufacturer said.
Xylem said the denitrification system uses a patented process that reduces operational costs by increasing the filter run time. A patented methanol feed system further reduces operational costs by optimising methanol dosing while maintaining effluent requirements the company said.
The installations are part of a programme involving the construction of 1,200 new municipal wastewater treatment plants and approximately 160,000 kilometres of new piping.
The World Health Organization has estimated that nearly 100,000 people die annually from water pollution-related illnesses in China.