Mitigation of eutrophication, intensified by excessive nutrient load discharge in wastewaters regulated by restrictive legal requirements, remains one of today’s most important global problems. Despite implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Wastewater Directive and the HELCOM recommendations, the actual condition of surface water is still not satisfactory. In response to the above, the study presents an alternative approach for surface water protection against eutrophication based on the selection of appropriate nutrient removal technologies. An activated sludge model simulation was used to enable the identification of environmentally justified nutrient removal systems with lowest eutrophication potential of treated wastewater conditioned by bioavailable nutrient forms content. Based on the outcome of the study, the 3-stage Bardenpho system was identified as the most efficient for bioavailable phosphorus removal, while the Johannesburg system proved to have the highest efficiency for bioavailable nitrogen removal. The proposed eutrophication mitigation approach underlines the need for a reconsideration of current legal regulations which ignore nutrient bioavailability and key eutrophication limiting factors.

在严格的法律要求管制下，由于废水中过多的养分负荷释放而导致富营养化的缓解仍然是当今最重要的全球性问题之一。尽管执行了《水框架指令》，《城市废水指令》和HELCOM建议，但地表水的实际状况仍然不能令人满意。针对上述情况，该研究提出了一种基于适当营养去除技术选择的地表水富营养化保护的替代方法。活化污泥模型模拟用于确定具有合理生物富营养化形式条件的经处理废水的富营养化潜力最低的环境合理的养分去除系统。根据研究结果，3阶段的Bardenpho系统被认为是生物利用磷去除效率最高的，而约翰内斯堡系统被证明是生物利用氮去除效率最高的。拟议的富营养化缓解方法强调需要重新考虑当前的法律法规，而忽略营养生物利用度和关键的富营养化限制因素。