ABSTRACT
Eco-engineered bioreactors (EEBs) are kinds of attached growth, in-ground, natural wastewater treatment methods in which morphology, substrates, operating methods, microbiomes, flows and/or other process conditions are manipulated and controlled to allow superior performance. The basic kind of aerobic EEB is the BREW bioreactors, a kind of aerated sub-surface flow gravel-bed EEB. EEB Systems allow the treatment throughout summer and winter in economical systems that can consistently meet stringent wastewater (WW) discharge criteria over extended periods. EEB Systems can be designed to treat acidic, neutral and alkaline mining impacted waters and have already been demonstrated to be effective in treating many of them. There are several types of passive and semi-passive treatment EEB anaerobic bioreactors but biochemical reactors (BCRs) are the most common. The design flow rate will be the one used with "worse-case" WW quality settings and other information to size an EEB cell. Semi-passive treatment BCRs should only be designed for downflow operations.
