Nitrogen Removal Bioreactors: another device in the run off management tool belt for horticulture
This webinar features research scientists Shane White and Dr Praktan Wadnerkar, reporting on bioreactor trials on the NSW north coast, followed by a panel discussion with Shaun Morris from North Coast Local Land Services.
Click on the link below to view the Webinar recording from Friday 8 April 2022:
Research scientists, Shane White (Southern Cross University) and Dr Praktan Wadnerkar (formerly a research scientist with Southern Cross University, and now working with Maitland City Council) report on the results from nitrogen removal bioreactors trials, looking at their effectiveness as a tool for improving water quality downstream of agricultural production.
They discuss their findings into two new designs for 'denitrifying woodchip bioreactors' developed by North Coast Local Land Services and installed on protected cropping and blueberry farm sites,
One design developed for the trial allows farm waste water to flow through a large pit filled with woodchips. The second bioreactor design (pictured below) runs the water through pipes filled with wood chips.
Shane and Praktan explain how these structures capture run off water and how beneficial bacteria living in these structures can consume nitrates that would otherwise flow into coastal waterways.
Shane and Praktan discuss what worked, and also what can go wrong when bioreactor technology doesn’t work so well, as documented in trials that took place on the Coffs Coast region in 2021.
Following the initial presentations, Shaun Morris from North Coast Local Land Services joins Shane and Praktan to answer queries from the live broadcast audience regarding this research.
Researchers Shane White and Praktan Wadnerkar have published reports investigating two new nutrient removal bioreactor designs:
- Improving water quality downstream of blueberry farms: trial of a novel surface-flow bioreactor design by Shane White et al, January 2021
- Improving Water Quality Downstream of Protected Cropping Operations (Hothouses) by Praktan D Wadnerkar et al, January 2021
The bioreactor technology assessed in the 2021 trials was designed and installed by North Coast Local Land Services, while the research into their effectiveness was funded by the Coffs Harbour City Council Environmental Levy Grants program.
This webinar presentation was delivered by the NSW Department of Primary Industries - Clean Coastal Catchments project. The project is funded through the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy.
