Influence of carbon source on nitrate removal of contaminated groundwater in a denitrifying submerged filter

The effectiveness of three selected carbon sources (sucrose, ethanol and methanol) on submerged filters for the removal of nitrate from contaminated groundwater (100 mg NO3-/litre), was studied. Process yields, nitrite accumulation, biomass production and growth of denitrifying bacteria were compared. Process yields, represented as ratio C/N were 2.5, 1.08 and 1.1 for sucrose, ethanol and methanol assays, respectively, making sucrose the least efficient carbon source. Nitrite accumulation in treated groundwater was more notable for sucrose assays, reaching values of 5 mg NO2-/l. However, when ethanol or methanol were used as carbon sources, nitrite accumulation in treated water was practically zero during the experiments. On the other hand, a greater biomass production was observed in these assays with sucrose, causing clogging of the filter. Higher density of denitrifying bacteria in the biofilm, observed when ethanol and methanol were amended to the influent, suggested that these carbon sources increased the denitrification activity compared with the experiments performed with sucrose. Since methanol is toxic, ethanol is considered the most suitable carbon source out of the three tested, under the experimental conditions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.