WATER QUALITY CONSERVATION USING OXYGENATION AND OZONATION WATER TREATMENT PROCESSES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0224989
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2010
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2015
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
(N/A)
FAYETTEVILLE,AR 72703

Performing Department
Biological & Agr Engineering

Non Technical Summary
Humans are part of the earths ecosystem. In order for humans to survive, they need clean water. Clean water is also needed to support many other components of the ecosystem that produce food upon which humans rely. The interaction between humans and water through agriculture, recreation, drinking water treatment and wastewater production and treatment changes the quality of the water. Some of these changes are reversible and some are not. Much current research is focused on minimizing the amount of water humans need to use as well as the amount of pollutants added that can compromise the quality of water. This project focuses on developing methods to better reverse the detrimental impacts humans have on water quality such as overabundance of organics and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) that enter the environment from human processes. The natural environment has a tremendous capacity to restore water quality can convert polluted water to water suitable for human use. However, if the level of pollutants exceeds a certain capacity, the natural system can no longer perform these needed processes. The most common cause of this exceedance of capacity is the inability of dissolved oxygen to support natural bacterial respiration processes that remove organic matter from water. This work will study methods for man made addition of dissolved oxygen to natural waters to support the bacterial processes until the exceedance is no longer present and the natural system can once again complete the process of cleaning environmental water. Other processes to be studied in this work help support oxygenation. Ozonation can remove pollutants from water and dissolve air flotation can remove algae that results from excess nutrients in the water from ponds and lakes. These processes will be coupled with the oxygenation process with the overall goal to increase the amount of environmental water that is suitable for human use.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
133	0399	2020	100%

Knowledge Area
133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation;

Subject Of Investigation
0399 - Watersheds and river basins, general;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;

Keywords

water quailty

oxygenation

ozonation

Goals / Objectives
To improve the amount of environmental water suitable for economic treatment into drinking water, recreation and healthy ecosystem processes. This objective will be met through three sub objectives. First, the best methods to add dissolved oxygen to lakes and ponds in situ to counteract the effects of eutrophication and pollution from excess organic matter will be determined using a novel approach for this process. Second, optimal methods for ozonation of drinking water and wastewater using an invention that improves the efficiency of ozonation of water will be developed. Ozonation is used to disinfect both drinking and waste water as well as remove other pollutants that can harm both environmental and human health. Third, a dissolve air flotation method will be modified to allow in situ treatment of water bodies to remove algae blooms that result from eutrophication that can harm both the ecosystem and the suitability of the water for treatment for human consumption.

Project Methods
Oxygenation and ozonation equipment for all testing is available for small-scale deployments. For larger scale deployments, equipment owned by BlueInGreen, LLC will be used through a cooperative agreement. Water dissolved oxygen concentration, pH, and conductivity measurements will be collected using YSI datasondes and handheld probes. Dissolved ozone measurements will be made using handheld sensors calibrated to colorimetric-based standard methods. Fecal coliform counts will be determined in certified labs using standard methods. Emerging contaminants will be sampled and analyzed using EPA standard methods and labs (UL Laboratory, Northbrook, IL). Dissolved metals testing will be conducted by certified labs and handheld sensors (for trends). Fish health will be monitored by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personnel through cooperative agreements. Objective 1: Oxygen will be injected into lake hypolimnion using the SDOX unit. Dissolved oxygen (DO) plume formation will be monitored using YSI datasondes place at buoy marked locations. Water samples will be collected at appropriate depth before treatment and periodically during treatment and analyzed for dissolved metals, phosphorus, and BOD using EPA certified labs. Tailwaters created by hydroelectric dams using hypolimnion water will also be analyzed for dissolve metals periodically to determine the time required to oxidize dissolved iron and manganese to non-soluable state and also the time required to precipitate out of solution. Fish hatcheries that receive water from the oxygenated hypolimnion will be monitored for water quality to compare the effects of oxygenating lake hypolimnion versus directly oxygenating water as it enters the hatchery facility. Fish health will be monitored by feeding rate, mortality rate, and general appearance made by fish biologists. A storm water retention/detention pond will be continually oxygenated to near saturation using an SDOX designed to provide sufficient DO at all times to maintain the desired DO level programmable set point at critical locations in the pond. Water quality will be monitored for BOD, temperature and nutrient concentration for sample of water entering and exiting the pond using an EPA approved lab and standard methods. Objective 2: An ozone injection unit has been designed and constructed. A side stream of wastewater from a local treatment plant (Springdale) will be ozonated. Water samples collected before and after treatment will be measured for fecal coliforms and a list of emerging contaminants (including antibiotics). The fecal tests will be performed by the Springdale Wastewater Treatment Facility lab and the emerging contaminants will be analyzed by United Laboratories (EPA Certified Lab). The volumetric flow rate of the side stream will be varied to allow the optimal flow rate of the ozonation system to be determined. Lab tests on the destruction kinetics of target antibiotics and biota will be conducted at varying dissolved ozone concentrations.

Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientists, practicing engineers, students and members of the public interested in water quality issues. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students studied the SOD problem and ozone problem for their MS thesis project. One undergraduate student studied the effects of temperature on SOD for an independent study project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Poster presentation at a professional water conference, research symposium, presented to company that produces ozone delivery equipment. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Discovered sediment suspension technique was too costly to be effective and sediment oxygen demand measurements were too variable. This led to studying SOD measurements in lakes to compare to a model to determine the variability of different measurement methods for measuring SOD. Ozonation of water for treaments was measured for ozone residual and used to develop a model for optimization of the process.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Lab Scale Experiment for Assessing the Effect of Resuspension and Oxygenation on Sediment Oxygen Demand, Grace Richardson, MS Thesis, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Other scientists, practicing engineers, students and members of the public involved with surface water issues Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Two MS students are working on research related to this project. Two undergraduate students worked on research projects under this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Technical presentations, meetings with design engineers to introduce the new technology, presentations at trade shows, incorporation of research results into classroom teaching. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Publish refereed journal articles on research results, disseminate case study results on technology applications.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Experiments indicated using new technology to remove algae from surface water using in situ dissolved air flotation can remove 80% of existing algae from the water column and 60% of phosphorus. Using this technology to resuspend and oxygenate sediment can reduce sediment oxygen demand, but the economics do not appear to be feasible and further study is required to refine the treatment method. Technology transfer resulted in 6 units being installed in applications to disinfect wastewater and remove emerging contanimants from wastewater stream (such as pharmaceutical residuals) using ozone prior to entering environmental surface water. One unit is being installed to disinfect drinking water from a contaminated surface source for use as municipal drinking water. Another unit is treating a surface wastewater lagoon to remove odors and BOD prior to release to further wastewater treatment and sensitive watershed. Another unit is being used for treating wastewater to adjust pH to improve quality of receiving stream.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Richardson, G. A. 2014. Lab-Scale Experiment for Assessing the Effect of Resuspension and Oxygenation on Sediment Oxygen Demand. MS Thesis. University of Arkansas Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Richardson, G. A., G. S. Osborn. 2014. Effects of Sediment Resuspension and Oxygenation on Oxygen Uptake Rate. Paper No. 14-1896896. Annual Meeting ASABE 2014, Montreal, CA.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Osborn, G. S. Dissolved Air Flotation for Removal of Algae and Nutrients from Surface Water. Presentation 2014 Annual Meeting ASABE, Montreal, CA.

Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Other scientists and students through professional presentations at Arkansas Water Resources Conference, ASABE annual meeting, graduate student presentations to on-campus audiences. Changes/Problems: This work has focused on the oxygenation portion of the initially proposed work because of available funding. The ozonation part has been more difficult to get funding to support. The addition of air as a gas for injection into surface water has led to advancements in flotation of algae from ponds. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four undergraduate students worked on the experiments to supliment their training in biological engineering and prepare them to work as engineers or pursue graduate studies. Two graduate students also worked on these experiement to help train them to become scientists in addition to their engineering training. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Analyze data. Make presentations to professional societies on results. Publish peer reviewed articles.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting period, experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of oxygenating and resuspending sediment from a eutrophic lake to determine if the oxygen demand from the sediments was reduced. The results are currently being analyzed. Also, an experiment was conducted to determine the efficiency of an experimental invention to float algae out of surface water for cheaply and effectively removing nutrients from surface water. A grant was obtained to conduct this research and the data is being analyzed.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Richardson, G. R. and G. S. Osborn. 2013. Reducing Sediment Oxygen Demand in Eutrophic Lakes. Presentation ASABE International Meeting. Kansas City, MO. Presentation 131606450.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2013 Citation: Richardson, G. R. and G. S. Osborn. 2013. Effects of Oxygenation of Resuspended Sediment from a Eutrophic Lake. Presentation Annual Watershed and Research Conference, Fayetteville, AR.

Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Experiments were conducted to determine the capability of an invention to float algae in a pond for removal. This removal will allow capture of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) more efficiently than current methods. Experiments were conducted in the lab (aquarium tanks) and upon success with this work, in a retention pond (approximately 1/10 acre). It was determined that using air gas was more effective than oxygen gas. It was determined the both filamentous and single cell algae could effectively be floated and removed from surface obstructions. A lab-scale prototype of a device to collect the floated algae while minimizing water collected was invented and is being developed. Experiments were conducted to examine the effects of purposeful resuspension of sediment in lakes and ponds while super oxygenating. The goal of the experiments is to reduce the amount of organic matter in the sediment and consequently reduce the oxygen uptake rate of the sediments to reduce long term SOD in lake sediments. An apparatus was designed and constructed to mix sediments while allowing control of dissolved oxygen concentration in the system during mixing. PARTICIPANTS: Scott Osborn, PI - conducted experiments, supervised graduate students and student workers. Grace Richardson, MS student - conducted experiments on oxygenation of sediments. Cameron Byers - Undergraduate student worker helped with experiments. TARGET AUDIENCES: Lake managers, environmental policy makers, environmental scientists. These groups are the target audience to relay information from this work to improve the quality of lakes and ponds. As of yet, the information from this work is not in a complete form to relay. We are making progress reports via poster presentations at technical meetings and conversations with managers of lakes and ponds that data is being collected from. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
The ability to cheaply float algae in ponds has led to a new consideration in managing nutrients in a watershed. If algae can cheaply be physically removed from ponds, then phosphorus can be physically removed from the pond. This technique could add to the number of treatment options for breaking the phosphorus cycle in water bodies and reduce the long term frequency of harmful algae blooms. This will improve the ability to store surface water without a degradation in quality from algae blooms. The algae collector invention has led to a new method for collecting the algae and potentially allow large amounts of nutrients to be removed from water and also provide a large supply of algae for further processing in to products such as fuel. Effective algae removal from surface waters could also lead to verifiable carbon capture.

Publications

• No publications reported this period

Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Project began 10/1/11. Over the three month period of this report investigations began to examine the potential for reducing the dissolved phosphorus in lakes using forced oxygenation. Many lakes and reservoirs in Arkansas and the region contain significant amounts of legacy phosphorus in sediments. In general, phosphorus is in a water soluble form under anoxic conditions and a non-soluble form under oxic conditions. We are investigating the possibility of testing lake sediment and water to determine if the amount of insoluble phosphorus can be increased such that the amount of dissolved phosphorus in the lake water is reduced. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
If dissolved phosphorus in lake water can be reduced, drinking water quality and quantity can be improved. If legacy phosphorus can be more readily bound in sediment by increasing the oxic portion of the sediment, then overall dissolved phosphorus in lake water can be reduced.

Publications

• No publications reported this period