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Emerging Technologies for Removing Nonpoint Phosphorus from Surface Water and Groundwater: Introduction
Author(s) -
Buda Anthony R.,
Koopmans Gerwin F.,
Bryant Ray B.,
Chardon Wim J.
Publication year - 2012
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/jeq2012.0080
Subject(s) - environmental science , nonpoint source pollution , context (archaeology) , tile drainage , surface runoff , water quality , eutrophication , watershed , environmental remediation , groundwater , surface water , environmental engineering , hydrology (agriculture) , water resource management , soil water , nutrient , engineering , contamination , computer science , ecology , geography , archaeology , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , soil science , biology
Coastal and freshwater eutrophication continues to accelerate at sites around the world despite intense efforts to control agricultural P loss using traditional conservation and nutrient management strategies. To achieve required reductions in nonpoint P over the next decade, new tools will be needed to address P transfers from soils and applied P sources. Innovative remediation practices are being developed to remove nonpoint P sources from surface water and groundwater using P sorbing materials (PSMs) derived from natural, synthetic, and industrial sources. A wide array of technologies has been conceived, ranging from amendments that immobilize P in soils and manures to filters that remove P from agricultural drainage waters. This collection of papers summarizes theoretical modeling, laboratory, field, and economic assessments of P removal technologies. Modeling and laboratory studies demonstrate the importance of evaluating P removal technologies under controlled conditions before field deployment, and field studies highlight several challenges to P removal that may be unanticipated in the laboratory, including limited P retention by filters during storms, as well as clogging of filters due to sedimentation. Despite the potential of P removal technologies to improve water quality, gaps in our knowledge remain, and additional studies are needed to characterize the long‐term performance of these technologies, as well as to more fully understand their costs and benefits in the context of whole‐farm‐ and watershed‐scale P management.