Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID VT_2023_Scarborough

Assessing mechanisms of phosphorous removal at a Champlain Basin wastewater treatment plant

Institute: Vermont
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $13,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $13,000

Principal Investigators: Matthew Scarborough

Project Summary: Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) load nutrients to waterbodies. This project seeks to understand phosphorous (P)-removal mechanisms at the Burlington, Vermont WWTF to manage future treatment strategies. This facility relies on both chemical and biological P removal. Enhanced biological P removal offers significant potential for a low-emission strategy for P removal and recovery, but its efficacy depends on the activity of specific microbes exposed to varying environmental conditions. To assess P removal mechanisms, samples of wastewater before, during, and after physical, chemical, and biological treatments will be collected weekly for one year, total and dissolved P measured, and genomes of microbes sequenced. Project and WWTF operational data will be integrated and analyzed to assess different removal mechanisms and potential seasonal changes in those mechanisms. Insights into the microbial community dynamics of biological treatment at the plant will inform future P removal optimization strategies at WWTFs in Burlington and throughout Vermont and the US.