Ammonia is widely used in various industries such as chemical and manufacturing factories as major additive to the production of plastics, explosives and fertilizer. This chemical is essential to manufacturing firms, but it can also pose hazards into the environment when large amount of ammonia is combined to wastewater and discharged into sewage system.

Ammonia in wastewater contains nitrates that are toxic to the environment and detrimental to human health. Thus, removing ammonia from wastewater is crucial to prevent the risks of poisoning and fatality. Companies and municipalities should enforce strict rules and regulations on effective wastewater treatment to address the bad impact of ammonia.

There are various ammonia treatments or wastewater systems that have been used in highly-developed countries like United States and Japan. Japan pioneers the research and development of biological wastewater treatment, and has the number of contributions in the field of ammonia removal. Japan is overly populated that is why the government spends sums of money in generating wastewater treatment systems that will resolve the problems brought by ammonia.

Removing ammonia from wastewater is tedious and complicated process, but with the breakthrough of modern systems –everything is made possible. One of the methods being used for wastewater treatment is ammonia stripping.

This treatment breaks down the ammonia and converts the content into nitrogen. A self-compressing system is used to convert the steam of ammonia into energy. Using a machine called the “stripper,” the wastewater is put onto the machine and then heated. The steam released by the wastewater contains NH3 that will be reheated in the compressor; the element produced from boiled water will be utilized as heat source.

Once the heat exchange is processed, the steam is then sent to a catalytic converter and split into steam and nitrogen. Nox is produced from the deconstruction of NH3. The gas emitted through this process will be cooled down and cleaned before releasing its particles into the air.

However, this method is just a remedy to strip and lessen the accumulation of ammonia, but the system is incapable of perfectly eradicating the problem with ammonia in wastewater. There are other possible solutions for ammonia wastewater treatment available in the market today.

Membrane contractors are other alternatives for treating wastewater; this works by removing the contamination from water and converting it into ammonia salt. This system also decreases the ammonia content on the treatment system. The ammonia salt produced from this system depends on the type of acid used during the stripping. If sulphuric acid is used, the converted material will be ammonium sulphate, which is used as fertilizer.

The conventional activated sludge treatment has different types – the complete mix, plug flow, and step feed. All these types use the same equipment for aeration and clarifier. Conventional activated sludge treatment gives great results in treating wastewater and, unlike other treatments, it is less complex to use and maintain. Meanwhile, owning this machine requires higher capital and maintenance costs. The machine is built from high quality and expensive materials.