On a barrier island along the North Carolina coast, a seasonal tourist population creates a large wastewater load for a sensitive environment. Some scientists became curious about how well this wastewater is treated for nitrogen, so they did a study.
They looked at large onsite treatment systems using aeration with an anoxic tank for denitrification (called “extended aeration” by the scientists), sequencing batch reactors and advanced media filtration. The results of their work were published in the August 2019 issue of Environmental Management.
Pumper talked with Michael O’Driscoll, associate professor in the Department of Coastal Studies at East Carolina University in
