Abstract
Removal of nutrients from wastewater (effluent) by sediments in cypress swamps was studied in laboratory leaching columns filled with wet surface sediments. Columns were leached with low-nutrient groundwater, treated wastewater, and treated wastewater amended with nitrate (20 to 30 mg N L−1) and phosphate (9.5 mg P L−1) for 21 mo. From 99 to 100% of the nitrate-nitrite and P was removed from the amended wastewater eluants throughout the investigation; average concentrations of nitrate-nitrite and P in effluent from amended wastewater columns did not exceed concentrations in leachate from columns eluted with groundwater. Ammonium removal was approximately 50% in columns receiving treated wastewater. Sediments of cypress swamps have a large capacity to remove nutrients from secondary effluent.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Public Health Association (APHA): 1976, Standard Methods for the Examination Of Water and Wastewater, 14 ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
Chen, R. L. and Keeney, D. R.: 1974, Water Res. Bull. 10, 1162.
Coultas, C. L. and Calhoun, F. G.: 1975, Soil Crop Sci. Soc. Proc. 35, 186.
Dierberg, F. E.: 1980, ‘The Effects of Secondary Sewage Effluent on the Water Quality, Nutrient Cycles and Mass Balances, and Accumulation of Soil Organic Matter in Cypress Domes’, Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Dierberg, F. E. and Brezonik, P. L.: 1983a, Water Res. 17, 1027.
Dierberg, F. E. and Brezonik, P. L.: 1983b, J. Appl. Ecol. 20, 323.
Doner, H. E., Volz, M. G., and McLaren, A. D.: 1974, Soil Biol. Biochem. 6, 341.
Ewel, K. C. and Odum, H. T. (eds.): 1984, Cypress Swamps, University Presses of Florida (in press).
Franks, B. J.: 1981, ‘Land Application of Domestic Wastewater in Florida-Statewide Assessment of Impact on Ground-Water Quality’, U.S. Geol. Survey Water Resources Investigations 81–3, Washington D.C.
Heimburg, K.: 1976, ‘Hydrology of Some Northeentral Florida Cypress Domes’, M. S. Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Holford, I. C. R. and Patrick, Jr., W. H.: 1979, Soil Sci. Am. J. 43, 292.
National Research Council: 1978, Nitrates: An Environmental Assessment, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Patrick, W. H., Jr. and Khalid, R. A.: 1974, Science 186, 53.
Patrick, W. H., Jr. and Mahapatra, I. C.: 1968, Advances in Agronomy 20, 323.
Struble, J. E.: 1977, ‘Nitrification, Denitrification, and Sedimentation Rates in Cypress Ponds Receiving Secondarily Treated Sewage Effluent’, M. S. Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Syers, J. K., Harris, R. F., and Armstrong, D. E.: 1973, J. Environ. Quality 2, 1.
Toetz, D. W.: 1970, Water Resour. Res. 6, 979.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): 1974, Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes, Cincinnati.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution of the Center For Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611. Financial support provided by the Rockefeller Foundation grant RF-73029 and the National Science Foundation Program of Research Applied to National Needs Grant AEN 73-07823 A01 (formerly G1-38721), H. T. Odum and K. C. Ewel, Principal Investigators. Work partially supported by Florida Institute of Technology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dierberg, F.E., Brezonik, P.L. Nitrogen and phosphorus removal by cypress swamp sediments. Water Air Soil Pollut 24, 207–213 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285445
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285445