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Efficiency and detrimental side effects of denitrifying bioreactors for nitrate reduction in drainage water

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Abstract

A laboratory column experiment was conducted to test the efficiency of denitrifying bioreactors for the nitrate (NO3-N) removal in drainage waters at different flow rates and after desiccation. In addition, we investigated detrimental side effects in terms of the release of nitrite (NO2-N), ammonium (NH4-N), phosphate (PO4-P), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), methane (CH4), and dinitrogen oxide (N2O). The NO3-N removal efficiency decreased with increasing NO3-N concentrations, increasing flow rates, and after desiccation. Bioreactors with purely organic fillings showed higher NO3-N removal rates (42.6–55.7 g NO3-N m−3 day−1) than those with organic and inorganic fillings (6.5–21.4 g NO3-N m−3 day−1). The release of NO2-N and DOC was considerable and resulted in concentrations of up to 800 μg NO2-N L−1and 25 mg DOC L−1 in the effluent water. N2O concentrations increased by 4.0 to 15.3 μg N2O-N L−1 between the influent and the effluent, while CH4 production rates were low. Our study confirms the high potential of denitrifying bioreactors to mitigate NO3-N pollution in drainage waters, but highlights also the potential risks for the environment.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by the Government of Lower Austria. We thank Beate Pitzl and Gertraud Steniczka for the analyses of nutrients and DOC (Wasser Cluster Lunz) and the Institute of Soil Research at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, for the gas analyses.

Ethical statement

The manuscript complies to the Ethical Rules applicable for this journal. The manuscript has not been published before and is not under consideration for publication anywhere else, and its publication has been approved by all co-authors.

Funding

The study was funded by the Government of Lower Austria.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WasserCluster Lunz, Dr Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5, 3293, Lunz/See, Austria

    Gabriele Weigelhofer & Thomas Hein

  2. Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Max Emanuelstr. 17, 1180, Vienna, Austria

    Gabriele Weigelhofer & Thomas Hein

Authors
  1. Gabriele Weigelhofer
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  2. Thomas Hein
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Correspondence to Gabriele Weigelhofer.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

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Weigelhofer, G., Hein, T. Efficiency and detrimental side effects of denitrifying bioreactors for nitrate reduction in drainage water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 13534–13545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4634-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4634-0

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