Phosphorus Recovery from Wastewater: Bioavailability of P Bound to Calcareous Material for Maize (Zea Mays L.) Growth

(1) Phosphorus (P) is an essential plant nutrient, and P deficiency negatively affects plant growth and development. Furthermore, P is a finite and nonrenewable resource, and there is an urgent need to recover P from some of the important waste streams in society. Newly engineered calcareous materials (sol-gel coated cat litter (CATSAN(R))) can bind P from wastewater in decentralized treatment systems and potentially enable P recycling into agricultural production by direct addition of the P saturated material. (2) The effects of the addition of two P-enriched calcareous materials as fertilizers for maize (Zea mays L.) growth were investigated in a mesocosm experiment. We compared fertilization with the P-enriched materials at rates of 6, 12, 25, 50, 100 kg P ha(-1) yr(-1) with fertilization with commercial NPK fertilizer. (3) The P fertilization by the P-enriched materials had a significant positive effect on plant height, biomass, maximum light-saturated photosynthetic rate, respiration rate, and total P content in biomass. However, plants fertilized by the commercial NPK fertilizer performed significantly better in the majority of measured parameters at identical fertilization rates. (4) The bioavailability of the P bound to the calcareous material was very low. However, the studied material has the potential to be used as part of a decentralized treatment solution to remove and subsequently recover and recycle P from wastewater.

Automated summary

Phosphorus is essential for plant growth and its recovery from wastewater is urgently needed. Newly engineered calcareous materials can help recover phosphorus from wastewater and promote agricultural production by direct addition to soil.