Source Wikipedia.org Anammox is one of the newest technologies for treating both ammonia and nitrite in wastewater. In the past operators running systems with long sludge ages noticed that nitrification did not consume as much oxygen and alkalinity as was calculated by normal Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter ammonia oxidation. Furthermore, the denitrification process to remove nitrate/nitrite had less of both compounds entering the anoxic/anaerobic zone. What was happening?
Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation (ANAMMOX) is pictured in the nitrogen cycle graphic at left. The process is as follows (forgive the lack of subscript):
NH4 + NO2 --> N2 + 2H2O
The microbes responsible for ANAMMOX conversion of ammonia and nitrite have been recently isolated and we are still in the process of understanding their microbiology in wastewater. Here is what we know:
Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation (ANAMMOX) is pictured in the nitrogen cycle graphic at left. The process is as follows (forgive the lack of subscript):
NH4 + NO2 --> N2 + 2H2O
The microbes responsible for ANAMMOX conversion of ammonia and nitrite have been recently isolated and we are still in the process of understanding their microbiology in wastewater. Here is what we know:
- All known species are in the phylum Planctomycetes which have some unique cell wall materials
- Anammox cultures are very slow growing with doubling times of 7 - 22 days
- Require a sludge age of at least 30 days or a fixed film matrix/media to be present in WWTP
- Require Nitrosomonas to convert some ammonia into nitrite to initiate their growth
- Beneficial in that they reduce treatment costs by up to 60% by decreasing treatment time and oxygen requirements
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