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Runoff Phosphorus Losses from Surface‐Applied Biosolids
Author(s) -
Elliott H. A.,
Brandt R. C.,
O'Connor G. A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2004.0467
Subject(s) - biosolids , surface runoff , manure , phosphorus , soil water , zoology , environmental chemistry , environmental science , chemistry , agronomy , environmental engineering , ecology , soil science , biology , organic chemistry
Runoff losses of dissolved and particulate phosphorus (P) may occur when rainfall interacts with manures and biosolids spread on the soil surface. This study compared P levels in runoff losses from soils amended with several P sources, including 10 different biosolids and dairy manure (untreated and treated with Fe or Al salts). Simulated rainfall (71 mm h −1 ) was applied until 30 min of runoff was collected from soil boxes (100 × 20 × 5 cm) to which the P sources were surfaced applied. Materials were applied to achieve a common plant available nitrogen (PAN) rate of 134 kg PAN ha −1 , resulting in total P loading rates from 122 (dairy manure) to 555 (Syracuse N‐Viro biosolids) kg P ha −1 Two biosolids produced via biological phosphorus removal (BPR) wastewater treatment resulted in the highest total dissolved phosphorus (13–21.5 mg TDP L −1 ) and total phosphorus (18–27.5 mg TP L −1 ) concentrations in runoff, followed by untreated dairy manure that had statistically ( p = 0.05) higher TDP (8.5 mg L −1 ) and TP (10.9 mg L −1 ) than seven of the eight other biosolids. The TDP and TP in runoff from six biosolids did not differ significantly from unamended control (0.03 mg TDP L −1 ; 0.95 mg TP L −1 ). Highest runoff TDP was associated with P sources low in Al and Fe. Amending dairy manure with Al and Fe salts at 1:1 metal‐to‐P molar ratio reduced runoff TP to control levels. Runoff TDP and TP were not positively correlated to TP application rate unless modified by a weighting factor reflecting the relative solubility of the P source. This suggests site assessment indices should account for the differential solubility of the applied P source to accurately predict the risk of P loss from the wide variety of biosolids materials routinely land applied.