Nitrification and Denitrification
Meet ammonia and total nitrogen limits with confidence: keep the nitrifiers in the system through the winter, balance oxygen and alkalinity, run anoxic zones and internal recycle, dose carbon only when it pays, and find what went wrong when ammonia or nitrate rises.
Who it is for
Activated sludge operators at plants with ammonia or total nitrogen limits, operators preparing for higher level wastewater certification exams, and managers and engineers who oversee nitrogen removal.
Format
Online, self-paced: 11 timed modules with the manual reading, worked examples and a short check after each module, plus the student manual to download.
Length and price
3 hours, $105.
What you will learn
11 modules. Every example uses the fictional White River Resource Recovery Facility, a 10 MGD activated sludge plant with a four train MLE process, and its September 2026 operating data.
- Nitrogen and the White River MLE process (18 min)Organic, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate nitrogen, TKN and TN, why permits limit them, the White River MLE layout and a plant nitrogen balance.
- The nitrifying bacteria (16 min)The two groups of nitrifiers, what they need, how slowly they grow, and the oxygen they use: 4.57 lb per lb of ammonia N.
- Alkalinity and pH (14 min)Alkalinity used by nitrification and returned by denitrification, a residual alkalinity balance, pH, and when to add alkalinity.
- Sludge age and temperature (16 min)Sludge age for nitrification, washout, the temperature correction, and building the solids inventory before winter.
- Dissolved oxygen and aeration control (15 min)DO for nitrifiers, tapered DO grids, ammonia based aeration control, probe care and a low DO week in September.
- Denitrification and anoxic zones (14 min)How denitrification works, anoxic conditions, the oxygen and alkalinity credit, ORP, and rising sludge in the clarifiers.
- Carbon for denitrification (16 min)BOD to TKN ratio, when supplemental carbon pays, methanol and glycerin dose math, chemical safety and dosing by trend.
- Internal recycle and MLE math (17 min)Internal recycle and the MLE removal fraction, best possible nitrate, diminishing returns, oxygen carried back and anoxic detention.
- Monitoring and process control (15 min)Nitrogen profiles along a train, sampling and analyzers, centrate sidestreams and their ammonia pulse, and a daily routine.
- Troubleshooting nitrogen removal (15 min)A troubleshooting method and tables for high ammonia, high nitrate, nitrite and toxic or inhibited nitrification.
- The September storm and other nitrogen processes (14 min)The September 2026 storm at White River, the recovery, lessons learned, Bardenpho, SBR and SND processes, and safety.
What operators take away
- The forms of nitrogen, TKN and TN, and how to follow nitrogen through a plant with a mass balance.
- What the nitrifying bacteria need: oxygen, alkalinity, a long enough sludge age, a safe pH and freedom from toxics.
- Nitrogen math: oxygen demand, alkalinity balance, SRT, temperature correction, wasting plans, carbon dose and the MLE recycle formula.
- How to run dissolved oxygen control and ammonia based aeration control, anoxic zones and internal recycle pumping.
- How to read nitrogen profiles, use online analyzers, handle centrate returns and troubleshoot ammonia, nitrate and nitrite problems.
- How a storm upsets nitrification and how to recover, plus an overview of Bardenpho, SBR and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.
- Timed online modules with a short check after each one, a final quiz that opens when every check is passed and the study time is logged, and a certificate of completion from Wastewater Academy™ when you pass it.
- A student manual to download (it comes with the class).
Look inside
A few sample pages from the student manual. Tap a page to open it full size.
These are sample pages only. The full student manual comes with the class.
Register
3 hours, $105.
CEU approval status varies by state. Check with your state certification office before you count class hours toward a renewal.
Questions about this course? Contact help@ActivatedSludge.com.
Our courses have not been approved by any state agency unless a state approval number is shown. Whether a course counts toward your renewal is decided by your certifying authority. Please confirm with your state before enrolling. See where you can use these classes.
Registration is open. Register online and start right away.
After you pay, you are taken to a page where you start the online course and download the student manual. Work through the 11 modules in order; each ends with a 4-question check, and you need 3 of 4 to open the next module. The study timer counts time only while a module page is open and in the foreground, and you have been active in the last 5 minutes. It pauses when the tab is in the background or idle. Module checks open after about 30 percent of that module's required study time is logged. The final quiz opens after every check is passed and 2 hours 50 minutes of study are logged. It has 15 questions; you need 80 percent, with up to 3 attempts. After you pass and fill in a short course evaluation, you get a certificate of completion from Wastewater Academy™ in the name you enroll with. Online access, including the course, manual, quiz, and certificate, lasts 90 days from purchase. To see the style of questions first, try a free practice quiz.
Before you buy, read our refund policy, terms of use and privacy notice.
Certificate Only, $84: Same online course, manual and final quiz, with 90 days of access. The certificate reads “Certificate of Completion. Not submitted for continuing education credit.” and lists no contact hours, CEUs or license numbers. See terms.
Taking more than one class? This class is part of the All-Access Pass: every online class except Indiana exam prep, for 365 days, for $220. Training a crew? See group pricing.
See the All-Access Pass