The combination of Aerobic Biofilter Granular Adsorption-Microfiltration for Seaweed Industry Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Wastewater from the seaweed processing industry contains macronutrients, alkalis, and moderately biodegradable organics, and has a large volume. Several treatment combinations such as coagulationflocculation-activated sludge-adsorption have been carried out but are still ineffective, especially if the treated water is reused for process water. This research aimed to analyze the effectiveness of the combination of the aerobic biofilter granular microfiltration process in reducing pollutants. The aerobic biofilter process uses an Aerated Biofilter Fixed Film Biofilter (AF2B), granular adsorption uses Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), while microfiltration uses membrane microfiltration (MF). The parameters tested include Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Turbidity, Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Chlorine, Total Hardness, Fe+2, and Mn+2. Optimum conditions to obtain the best results were determined in each process. The results showed that the combination of the AF2B/GAC process reduced contaminants such as TSS, BOD, COD, and Chlorine by 97%, 99%, 98%, and 99.8% respectively. Furthermore, in the MF process, all pollutants have been removed to meet process water quality standards.