Phosphorus Removal from Dairy Wastewaters using Treated Acid Mine Drainage Residuals

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is detrimental to many freshwater systems and agriculture is one of the major sources of P to the environment. In this study, P sorption from dairy wastewaters was examined using a sorption media made from treated acid mine drainage (AMD) residuals. Dairy wastewater samples were collected from an 860 acre dairy farm in Maryland. Dairy parlor washings and lagoon samples were treated in P sorption isotherms, kinetic tests and fixed bed sorption columns to assess P removal. Sorption of P from the dairy wastewaters was achieved in all trials. However, sorption results varied with the different sample characteristics, especially solids content, in that the more contaminated the water, the more difficult it was to treat. Future research should focus on increasing the number of dairy farms sampled, pretreatment of dairy wastewaters to remove solids, and the regeneration and reuse of spent AMD media in column tests.