First months operation of two biofilter prototypes in the waste water plant of acheres

In order to preserve the River Seine against point discharge of secondary effluent, the purification plant of Acheres is building a tertiary step to nitrify and polish secondary effluent by biofiltration, the dry weather flow of which reaches 2 100 000 m 3 /day. Two biofilter prototypes, Biofor and Biostyr, have been created to test their performances in a wide range of operating conditions, especially in the case of storm water. First results show that a removal of 0.8 kg N-NH 4 /m 3 .d, corresponding to a Global Oxygen Demand removal of 5.5 kg O 2 /m 3 .d, can be achieved by Biofor at a temperature of 14°C. The Biostyr prototype brought later into service has not yet enough results to draw clear conclusions. Nevertheless the first data during May 1993 (temperature 18.5°C) are also very promising.