New wastewater system design guidelines developed at the University of British Columbia (UBC) could help municipal governments save money while better protecting aquatic life.UBC PhD candidate Nima Moallemi (l) and Assistant Professor of Engineering Joshua Brinkerhoff developed guidelines for tailoring filtration design to help prevent phosphorous deposits from forming in wastewater systems. Image credit: UBC.

In a recent study, UBC engineers developed recommendations for tailoring the design of specialized filters called fluidized bed reactors to local conditions to help prevent phosphorous deposits from forming in wastewater systems. The guidelines also help ensure such reactors avoid the release of phosphorus into the environment. As phosphorus promotes oxygen-depleting algae blooms, its release can suffocate aquatic life.

“If left unchecked, phosphorus can cause significant environmental damage and millions of dollars in additional maintenance costs for large wastewater plant operators, such as municipalities,” says the study’s principal investigator, Joshua Brinkerhoff, assistant professor of engineering.

Using computer simulations, Brinkerhoff and PhD candidate Nima Moallemi were able to test different types of water-flow scenarios in a virtual environment and estimate the operating conditions of the fluidized bed reactors that achieve the best mixing of liquid and solid material to remove phosphorus.

The guidelines allow designers to account for differing wastewater rates and qualities found across geographic regions, as the chemical makeup and quantity of wastewater vary with geography and city size.