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Sustainability assessment and comparison of efficacy of four P-inactivation agents for managing internal phosphorus loads in lakes: sediment incubations

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Abstract

A novel application of a continuous flow incubation system (CFIS) was used to assess four phosphorus (P) inactivation agents—alum, Phoslock™, a new modified zeolite (Z2G1 or Aqual-P™), and allophone—when used as sediment capping agents to manage internal P loads in lakes. The CFIS technique allowed combined efficacy and sustainability assessment, including: (1) flux measurements during simulation of stratified (anoxic) and mixed (aerobic) conditions on the same sediment through multiple cycles to assess the longevity of a range of product doses; (2) simulation of a summer algal bloom collapse and subsequent burial of the products; and (3) investigation of non-target effects on nitrification and denitrification processes at the sediment–water interface. Minimum P-removal dose rates were found to differ substantially at 80 g m−2 for alum, 190 g m−2 for Z2G1, 220 g m−2 for allophane and 280 g m−2 for Phoslock™, for similar capping layer thickness of about 2 mm, and would be effective for at least 4 years. All products temporarily suppressed nitrification and denitrification under aerobic conditions, and it may be important to minimise product application to any permanently aerobic zones, such as the littoral areas of a lake. While the aluminium (Al)-based products did not enhance Al fluxes in the CFIS, lanthanum (La) was released at a near constant rate of around 2 mg La m−2 day−1 from the Phoslock™ treatments over a period of at least 14 days. Spatial variability of sediment P, bioturbation, and burial are factors that will affect up-scaling these results to a whole lake.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank D. Bremner, M. van Kooten, B. Hughes and K. Farnsworth for collecting the sediment and hundreds of litres of lake water, assistance with set up and daily sampling of the incubation chambers over the 90 day experiment, G. Bryers for the rapid analytical turn around of the thousand or more water samples produced during this study, and K. Rutherford for valuable discussion during the preparation of this manuscript. This study was funded by the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) contract CO1X0305, ‘Restoration of aquatic ecosystems’ and Environment Bay of Plenty under their programme for restoration of the Te Arawa/Rotorua Lakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., PO Box 11-115, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Max M. Gibbs & Christopher W. Hickey

  2. Centre for Ecology and Biodiversity Research, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Deniz Özkundakci

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  1. Max M. Gibbs
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  2. Christopher W. Hickey
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  3. Deniz Özkundakci
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Correspondence to Max M. Gibbs.

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Gibbs, M.M., Hickey, C.W. & Özkundakci, D. Sustainability assessment and comparison of efficacy of four P-inactivation agents for managing internal phosphorus loads in lakes: sediment incubations. Hydrobiologia 658, 253–275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0477-3

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