A Simple Technology for the Simultaneous Denitrification and Organic Pollutant Elimination in Water Treatment
(PCL)

This project is financed by the Land Baden-Württemberg and is a cooperation of our institute and the biological department of the institute for sanitary engineering, water quality, and waste management of the University of Stuttgart. The aim of the project is the development of a simple biological water-treatment technology for the simultaneous removal of nitrate and organic pollutants. The technique to be developed will involve the use of the biodegradable polymer polycaprolactone (PCL), which acts as a carbon source for heterotrophic denitrification and an adsorbent for organic pollutants. The specific objectives of the project are: (1) to optimize the denitrification performance by modification of polymer properties, (2) to study the adsorption of different organic pollutants by PCL, and (3) to work on an effective and low-cost technical realization of the technique.