What is New in Wastewater Treatment?
At the Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant, what’s new is denitrification. The fish kills and algae blooms that have plagued the Neuse River estuary have been associated with elevated levels of nutrients in the river, especially the nitrate form of nitrogen. Humans consume nitrogen as protein in our food, and unfortunately do not use all of it in our bodies. We excrete nitrogen in the form of ammonia each day. Since ammonia is toxic to fish and other animals, wastewater treatment plants have been designed to convert ammonia to nitrate, which is not toxic to fish. Nitrate however, promotes plant growth, so excess levels can cause algae blooms. New construction at the Neuse Plant will convert nitrate to nitrogen gas that will be released into the air. The City is using $8.2 million in State Revolving Fund loans to complete this project by August 1998. The plant enhancements will reduce the nitrate in our effluent to below 6.0 mg/L. and remove 78% of the nitrogen from our incoming wast
