Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS): performance of granular media filtration and membrane bioreactors

Aquaculture is becoming an essential component of the seafood industry all over the world in order to meet the growing demand of seafood, However, both fresh and saline water aquaculture effluents are rich in nutrients such as nitrates and to some extent phosphorus, which pose limitation to their discharge receiving water bodies. This along with the diminishing supply of fresh water forces the aquaculture industry to use recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) that would replace the fresh water exchange that normally take place in aquaculture farms. This paper investigates the performance of two treatment systems for RAS in removing solids as well as nutrients; one system composed of granular media filters such as floating medium, sand and granular activated carbon filters and the other system composed of an anoxic reactor as well as an aerobic membrane bioreactor