Biological phosphorous removal - ANPHOS® technology

The ANPHOS® system is a new technology developed to remove and also recover the phosphorous from wastewater with a sustainable process.
The ANPHOS® process can be applied on all types of waste waters with P levels of > 50mg/L.

Hydroitalia – Colsen proposes the ANPHOS® process as environmental friendly alternative to the traditional techniques used for the phosphorous removal based on the dosing of chemicals containing iron and aluminum. These chemicals lead to many operative disadvantages as the high costs due to the usage of expensive chemicals and the necessity to handle the production of sludge containing metal salts, nevertheless the related environmental impact of this kind of treatment.

In the ANPHOS® process the aeration of waste water induces a positive pH shift and the addition of magnesium(hydr)oxide let the phosphate reacts with ammonia and magnesium ions to form magnesium-ammonium-phosphate (MgAP) or magnesium-potassium-phosphate (MgKP) also known as ‘struvite’. After the struvite crystallization and precipitation, this product is dewatered and dried in order to be directly applied as substitute for agricultural fertilizers.

The main advantages of the Anphos® technology for the removal of the phosphorous are the following:

    • Phosphorous removal yield > 90%
    • Combined removal of P, COD e N-NH4
    • Lower chemical consumption and costs
    • Final product: struvite (fertilizer) instead of sludge containg metal salts to discharge.