Why Is Wastewater Nitrification Important?

Have you ever heard of nitrification of wastewater? Well, it is one of the most common wastewater treatment processes that help in the degradation of contaminants. It involves the oxidation of ammonia and nitrite effluents, which have multiple negative impacts on the environment. The wastewater nitrification process is carried out before discharging water from a lagoon and is divided into two major steps—the first one involving conversion of ammonium ions to nitrite, which is followed by the second step where nitrite is further oxidized to nitrate. By following this two-step process, the wastewater treatment plants can effectively reduce the ammonia and nitrite concentrations from wastewater and protect the environment from getting damaged.

Over the past few years, there has been a huge increase in the number of industries and factories that have begun functioning in the United States of America. Given this, there are high chances of them affecting the natural environment with the release of waster products, especially in liquid form. Considering the already-declining state of the environment due to various human activities, wastewater nitrification becomes even more important to save the Earth and the aquatic life that is present in its various water bodies. According to various researchers, when ammonia gets accumulated to toxic levels in the water, it affects the lives of aquatic organisms and eventually, leads to their end. Furthermore, it also has toxic effects on the lives of human beings as it damages the internal organs if ammonia-contaminated water is consumed for a relatively long time. 

Considering the negative effects that ammonia has on the lives of people as well as on the aquatic organisms, the contaminated water must be properly treated before it is discharged from the lagoons. This can effectively help in reducing the negative effects of ammonia, and thus, save the precious lives that matter.