Pollutant removal from aquaculture wastewater using the biopolymer chitosan at different molecular weights

Removal of organic compounds, inorganic nutrients, and bacteria from aquaculture wastewaters before discharge cannot only minimize deterioration of receiving water quality, but can also make possible the reuse of the original water in the culture of prawn, fish, and shellfish. In this study, the feasibility of using chitosan, a multifunctional environmentally friendly biopolymer, at different molecular weights to simultaneously remove various pollutants from the discharge of an eel culture pond is evaluated. Experimental results indicated chitosan with a high molecular weight was best at removing turbidity, suspended solids, and biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD and COD). In contrast, chitosan of a low molecular weight excelled at removing NH3 and PO43- from wastewater. Additionally, chitosan with a high molecular weight did well at eliminating suspended solids of various particle sizes relative to chitosan with a low molecular weight. The best performance of chitosan in removing turbidity, suspended solids, BOD, COD, NH3, pO(4)(3-), and bacteria was 87.7 %, 62.6 %, 52.3 %, 62.8 %, 91.8 %, 99.1 %, and 99.998 % removal, respectively. When chitosan with a high molecular weight was added at 12 mg/L, the quality of treated wastewater successfully complied with government discharge standards. Furthermore, the relatively low bacteria amount in the wastewater after treatment with chitosan was confirmed by both the plate count method and molecular analysis technique. These results indicated that the application of chitosan is feasible in an effort to recycle the effluents of a culture pond.