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Nitrogen Removal in an Ecological Ditch Based on an Orthogonal Test

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Abstract

Agricultural drainage plays a vital role in the discharge of non-point source pollutants into surface-receiving waters. Sustainable drainage management to mitigate nitrogen losses from cultivated land is needed. Many factors influence nitrogen removal in agricultural drainage ditches. However, existing research has not fully considered parameter sensitivity analysis of nitrogen removal. Therefore, in this study, an ecological ditch model containing a permeable dam was built, in which the influent nitrogen concentration, suspended solid concentration, influent flow, and water level were examined as influencing factors. An orthogonal test was conducted to explore the significance of these four factors and their impacts on nitrogen removal as well as the nitrogen transport characteristics along the ditch. The results revealed that the ditches had an interception effect on nitrogen pollutants, and according to importance, the four factors are influent nitrogen concentration, water level, water flow, and suspended solid concentration in descending order. The plants and permeable dam in the ditch also played an important role in nitrogen removal.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Innovative Research Groups of National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 51321065), the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (no. 2012ZX07101-008), and the Natural Science Fund of Tianjin City (no. 16JCYBJC23100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Songmin Li & Xiaoling Wang

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Jiamin Tu, Bin Qiao & Jiansheng Li

  3. Department of Water Conservancy Engineering, Tianjin Agriculture University, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Songmin Li

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  1. Songmin Li
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  2. Xiaoling Wang
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  3. Jiamin Tu
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  4. Bin Qiao
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Correspondence to Xiaoling Wang.

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Li, S., Wang, X., Tu, J. et al. Nitrogen Removal in an Ecological Ditch Based on an Orthogonal Test. Water Air Soil Pollut 227, 396 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-3085-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-3085-7

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