Innovative Strategies to Achieve Low Total Phosphorus Concentrations in High Water Flows

Eutrophication caused by excess phosphorus (P) loading poses a serious environmental risk to freshwater bodies around the world. While conventional P-removal technologies often satisfy maximum effluent levels of 1,000g-P/l, the resulting environmental P concentrations can still contribute to eutrophication. The challenge remains to achieve low total P levels of 10g-P/l in very large water flows. This issue is often exacerbated by the presence of unreactive organic phosphorus. The authors critically assess innovative developments in advanced oxidation, adsorption, biological uptake, and ion exchange for their ability to achieve very low total P concentrations in high-flow systems. Adsorption appears to have the greatest potential for near-term implementation. Biological uptake and ion exchange show promise based on laboratory-scale research and may be long-term options. Pretreatment using advanced oxidation may be valuable in converting organic P to the more readily removable orthophosphate form.