THE RIM-NUT PROCESS AT WEST BARI ITALY FOR REMOVAL OF NUTRIENTS FROM WASTEWATER FIRST DEMONSTRATION

RIM-NUT, a new physico-chemical process for ammonia and phosphate removal from municipal secondary effluent by selective ion exchange, and precipitation of MgNH4PO4 slow-release fertilizer, has been tested in a 10 m3/h demonstration plant at West Bari [Italy] Sanitation Station. The three-month demonstration indicated the technical feasibility of the process to meet the stringent Italian concentration limits for N and P discharge, as well as to recover quantitatively nutrient species in the form of premium-quality fertilizer (N:P2O5:MgO=4:26:16), almost sterile with a tolerable concentration of heavy metals.