A process for forming a biofilm carrier suitable for use in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is presented. A blowing agent is mixed with a plastic material to form a blended material. The blended material is then heated to a temperature where the blowing agent liberates gas by decomposition. The heated blended material is extruded through a die to provide the extrudate with a profile of the biofilm carrier. Advantageously, biofilm carriers produced in this manner have increased effectiveness when compared to conventional biofilm carriers.

A method for enhancing biochemical water treatment by a powder carrier includes: (i) screening the powder carrier by removing impurities to obtain a screened powder carrier; (ii) dissolving the screened powder carrier by stirring to prepare a slurry, enabling the screened powder carrier to completely absorb moisture to obtain a soaked powder carrier slurry; (iii) adjusting the pH value and adding the soaked powder carrier slurry into a bioreactor or a biological reaction structure; (iv) distributing the soaked powder carrier slurry uniformly through a hydraulic agitation; (v) loading a microorganism on the inner pore and wrapping on the surface of the soaked powder carrier slurry to obtain powder-loaded biological floccules; (vi) settling the powder-loaded biological floccules in a sedimentation zone and separating the powder carrier from the microorganism for reuse.

Wastewater containing organic matter may be treated using a multi-zone apparatus. In a first zone, organic matter in the wastewater may, among other things, be converted to at least volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and, thereafter, a portion of the treated wastewater may flow to a second zone that may, among other things, convert the VFAs to methane.

A wastewater treatment device has: an ozone generator which supplies ozone; a mixer which mixes ozone supplied from the ozone generator with wastewater and supplies ozone mixed wastewater; an ozone oxidation unit which progresses ozone oxidation in the ozone mixed wastewater while passing the ozone mixed wastewater therethrough and discharges wastewater in which the ozone has been consumed; a biological treatment unit which performs biological treatment on the wastewater discharged from the ozone oxidation unit using microorganisms; and an adjusting device which adjusts the amount of ozone to be mixed with the wastewater by the mixer so that ozone in an amount that inhibits the microorganisms of the biological treatment unit does not remain in the wastewater discharged from the ozone oxidation unit.

Bioreactors and associated methods are provided herein including bioreactors capable of treating water contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. In certain embodiments, a bioreactor is disclosed and may include an adsorbent layer with a biofilm capable of metabolizing 1,4-dioxane and a screen disposed downstream of the adsorbent layer configured to retain detached biofilm.

The present invention relates to a composite treatment and recovery technique of polluted water body and soil. Iron-rich straw biomass, after being crushed, is mixed and granulated with sludge, and is pyrolytic charred by programmed heating, to obtain bulk loaded zero-valent iron biochar and sludge biochar composite particles, which are packed as fillers in a filled bed or as filters in filter cells of a fixed bed, for effective recovery of complex polluted water, polluted by heavy metals, organics, nitrogen, phosphorus, and the like.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods that provide for increased carrying capacity of bioreactors using silica polymers. Disclosed is a method that includes supplying nutrients and silica polymers containing microorganisms to a bioreactor to form a first suspension and controlling temperature, pressure, and nutrient conditions in the bioreactor to produce a second suspension with increased carrying capacity as compared to a control bioreactor containing microorganisms without the silica polymers.

A surface water mitigation structure suitable for use in the storage and treatment of contaminated surface water runoff. The runoff is processed through a multi-layered filtration and treatment system wherein the first layer is one or more permeable layers that is pervious enough to allow liquid runoff to pass through it and into a porous storage medium second layer that includes one or more remediating agents, and wherein the effluent from the surface water mitigation structure can be discharged to the ground, the surface, and/or a drainage system reduced or free of contaminants.

The subject of this invention is to use beneficial reactive support media in the form of reactive support bases or stratums that provide structural or biochemical benefits to the growth or function (including agglutination) of biofilms. The functional aspect includes the provision of a polymeric, cellulosic or silicic framework. The framework could also contain charge moieties such as cations, anions, amines or carboxyl groups whose pKa's allow them to be charged at the physiological pH for an organism. For example, a cation may provide a positive charge to help the adherence of a negative charge exocellular polymeric substance. The reactive support media may include biodegradable or refractory plastics, alginates or uronic acids or extracted bacterial EPS. These materials are reacted, retained or removed based on their physical characteristics.

A phyto-mediated wastewater treatment bioreactor (PWBR) for treating wastewater effluent and agricultural effluent is disclosed herein. The PWBR is used to clean and remove emerging contaminants from water. These emerging compounds include, but are not limited to, pharmaceutical compounds, steroids and hormones, and industrial and household chemicals. Plants and/or the microorganisms adhering to the plant roots and their growing medium have the ability to take up many of these contaminants and the PWBR maximizes their treatment capability in a given space and time.