Abstract
Modern society has moved from a phosphorus recycling loop, where animal manure and human wastes were spread on farming land to recycle nutrients, to a once-through system, where phosphates are extracted from mined, non-renewable phosphate rock and end up either in landfill(sewage sludge, incinerator ash) or in surface waters. In this research, crystallization of nitrogen and phosphate with natural sources of $Mg^{2+}$ in synthetic water was tested. The operational parameters of pH, mixing time, and the magnesium molar ratio were investigated to find optimal conditions of the MAP precipitation using synthetic wastewater. The removal efficiency of phosphate increased with pH up to 11. By MAP precipitaiton of the synthetic waste water, 94% of the phosphate were eliminated at pH 11. It was found that at least 10 minutes mixing time was required and 20 minutes mixing time was recommended for efficient phosphate removal. High efficiency removal of phosphate was possible when the magnesium molar ratio was 1.0~2.0. The comparative study of different magnesium sources showed that coagulants (PAC) was the more efficient sources than only magnesium. The result showed that 97% of phosphate removal. In conclusion, coagulants (PAC) induced crystallization of struvite and hydroxyapatite was shown to be a technically viable process that could prove cost effective for removing phosphate in wastewater.