An integrated system for treating nitrogen supersaturated water

Groundwater is commonly supersaturated with nitrogen and must be treated it is used for culturing fish-- especially sensitive species such as lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush ) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar ). The authors treated water with an integrated system that passed water through a packed column aerator, then through a vacuum degasser, and finally through another packed column aerator (installed as a backup system). In well water passed through packed columns, nitrogen gas was reduced from 131 to 105% of saturation and oxygen was increased from 23 to 86% of saturation. With a vacuum pressure of 3 in Hg, the degasser further reduced the nitrogen gas from 105 to 99% of saturation, and oxygen saturation remained near 86%.