Using Chemically Treated Organic Recycling Materials to Enhance Freshwater Purification

Abstract

The development of civilization and its accompanying anthropopressure have increased the accumulation of biogenic elements in aquatic ecosystems, which has accelerated the eutrophication of water bodies all over the world [1][2][3], and by doing so increased the production of tides of toxic cyanobacteria [4][5]. There is, therefore, a need to integrate ecohydrology with engineering solutions on the catchment scale to slow the rate of eutrophication [6], with the potential to permanently decrease the content of bioavailable phosphorus in water supplies Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 25, No. 5 (2016), 1847-1855 AbstractThe greatest source of phosphorus pollution in the freshwater ecosystem is erosion from agricultural areas and point sources. Although this pollution is typically moderated by precipitation and sedimentation, biological and physicochemical methods can be used. The aim of our study was to construct an alternative prototype solution incorporating a filter bed made of suitable recycled phytogenic materials (hemp and harl flax) mixed with chemical compounds (Ca(OH) 2 , FeCl 3 , and Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ) based on the results of laboratory and field experiments. An 80-90% reduction was noted for deposits with Ca(OH) 2 and Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 compounds, and 42% for FeCl 3 during laboratory studies. The field studies did not provide such a high reduction of phosphates -only 2% for the Ca(OH) 2 deposit and 49% for the FeCl 3 deposit. This could be attributed to variable physical parameters (pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen) and high negative correlation (r = -0.6296; p = 0.003) with nitrate reduction for the Ca(OH) 2 deposit. However, greater reduction was noted when the phosphate concentration exceeded 1 mg PO 4 3-L -1 in field experiments.