The DEMON nitrogen removal system from World Water Works is designed for municipal and industrial wastewater streams with high ammonia concentrations (greater than 200 mg/L). The system’s two-step process uses ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) that convert half the ammonia to nitrite. A second biological process uses anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (anammox) to convert the nitrite and remaining ammonia into nitrogen gas, reducing energy usage by 60 percent. The system also produces 90 percent less biomass than traditional nitrogen removal processes. This is all accomplished in a single tank.“The DEMON system is a shortcut in nitrogen removal,” says Chandler Johnson, chief
