Biological Denitrification Evaluation for Pirana at Massachusetts Alternative Septic Systems Test Center

Removal of nitrogen from wastewater is a national concern. Because of its impact on the environment, the USEPA has established limits for safe drinking water of 10 mg/l of water. Salt-water estuaries are also threatened by this productivity-limiting nutrient. Given an inventory in the United States of over 26 million septic systems, that discharge of nitrogen biological denitrification is considered essential to the lifecycle management of wastewater treatment systems. Septic systems inject an estimated six billion gallons of treated effluent a day into the groundwater and, assuming no losses, likely contribute1.76 million pounds of nitrogen to the environment. States along the eastern seaboard have for the most part ignored onsite treatment as a regional option for nitrogen removal and have instead focused on extending sewers and adding nitrogen removal systems to municipal treatment plants.