ON THE DESIGN OF NITRIFYING TRICKLING FILTERS FOR POTABLE WATER-TREATMENT

A practical graphical method for the design of nitrifying trickling fi lters for potable water treatment is presented. The method allows the selection of the key design parameters (support media and filter dimen sions) based on appropriate design curves. In the sequel, the possible advantages of water recirculation are examined theoretically and expe rimentally. Both theoretical and experimental results shown that an in crease in ammonia bioconversion is expected for high or intermediate v alues of hydraulic loading and high values of inlet ammonia concentrat ion, whereas at low hydraulic rates, recirculation has an adverse effe ct.