Effect of high salinity on anaerobic treatment of low strength effluents

In anaerobic treatment, it is obligatory to know the effect of potentially inhibitory compounds due to the fact that methane formation may retard severely and may proceed slower than organic acid production. One of the most important inhibitory substances in anaerobic treatment is high salinity. In many cases, the main collectors of a municipal sewer system should have been built in the coastal zone and below the ground water level due to the available topography of wastewater catchments area, which is carrying the risk of seawater infiltration. Besides, one of the most convenient methods for leachate control is to treat landfill leachates with domestic wastewaters in the central municipal wastewater treatment plants such as in Istanbul. Thus, the nitrogen load of the treatment plants increase significantly. In this study, the effects of high salinity and ammonium nitrogen levels on mesophilic anaerobic tretament processes were investigated. In the first part of the study, high salinity effect on anaerobic treatment was investigated by feeding synthetic wastewater containing high salinity between 0.15%–1.5% ratios. In the second part of the study, the simultaneous effect of high salinity and ammonia (1.5% salinity+1,000 mg NH3/l) was examined by a lab-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed Reactor (UASBR). Results indicated no significant inhibition in both cases and effective COD removals (89%) and total biogas productions having methane content of 84% could be achieved.