Removal techniques of ammonia from drinking water and wastewater in Egypt and developing countries: a review study

Abstract The ammonia pollution/contamination reveals at the inlet of drinking water treatment plants, especially on Northern coast of Egypt, due to the drainage of sewage and industrial wastes from factories along the Nile River, resulting in more neutralization that clogs inlet of water treatment plants. Ammonia causes many diseases; some of them lead to coma or death. Excess ammonia also causes the winter dam in North Egypt to force the drinking water treatment stations to stop operation because of the high pollution load. Therefore, many researchers removed ammonia from drinking water as it was limited to 0.5 ppm in the European association and WHO. In this review, a criticizing summary of researches work (1983-2021) is presented where removal of ammonia by physical (i.e. adsorption, air stripping, and membrane distillation), biological, and chemical (oxidation, struvite, photocatalyst, cold plasma) methods were reviewed.