Nutrient pollution: a global challenge

Nutrient pollution or nutrient load is a widespread problem which affects water bodies worldwide. It is a natural phenomenon which usually occurs over centuries, as water bodies fill with sediments. Human activity accelerates this process, particularly via phosphorous and nitrogen inflows, which are the primary cause of undesirable changes to lake ecosystems. An excess of nutrients eventually leads to deterioration in the structure and function of a water body, such as the loss of a biodiverse aquatic community.

Excess nutrients can enter water bodies from external sources such as groundwater, the atmosphere and connecting waterways and can include both diffuse sources, such as surface run-off from the surrounding catchment and point sources such as septic tank effluents. Climate change and increased catchment loading from population growth and land-use change are the main external stressors that can increase the rate of external phosphorus loading to lakes.

Following decades of nutrient pollution, lake sediments can act as sinks and store these nutrients, particularly phosphorus. However, under certain environmental conditions these sediments also become a nutrient source by releasing the phosphorus they contain into the overlying water column.

This can delay the recovery of lakes from nutrient pollution for decades, even following efforts to reduce external nutrient sources. The constant cycling of phosphorus from sediments to the overlying water column means that lakes can continue to suffer from the effects of nutrient pollution for many years unless the phosphorus release can be controlled.

How to adsorb phosphorus from flowing freshwater systems

Phosflow™, developed with the U.S. EPA through a cooperative research and development agreement, adsorbs phosphorus from water upon contact. This pelletized product is made from naturally occurring mineral materials. It is non-hazardous, insoluble in water and non-toxic to aquatic plants and wildlife.

It is used as a filter media to remove phosphorus from a variety of natural environments involving flowing water such as lakes, streams, drains and channels. It can also be used in wastewater effluents including municipal, industrial and agricultural wastewaters.

Phosflow is an easy to implement solution that is designed to simplify nutrient remediation for settings that do not have the resources to build new facilities or have unique application needs. Its application requires no capital or structural investment and can be accomplished at low cost, making this system viable for almost any company or community. It can be used in different environments such as:

Municipal Wastewater

Waterways

Stormwater

Livestock runoff

Agricultural runoff

To learn more about the difference PET can make to waterway health,

please contact our team.