Performance of an integrated sediment interceptor in removing phosphorus from agricultural drainage water

Abstract

Reducing phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural drainage water is challenging. In this study, we aimed to remove P from agricultural drainage water by developing an integrated sediment interceptor with adsorbent modules filled with Zr/Zn nanocomposite-modified ceramsite (ZMC-interceptor). The results of sequential chemical extraction and 31P NMR showed that the contents of H2O-P (1.15 % of total P), NaHCO3-Pi (10.48 % of total P), and ortho-P (orthophosphate, 90.6 % of total P) in the sediments of the ZMC-interceptors were higher than those in nearby field soils. The average enrichment ratios of particulate P (PP, >450 nm), medium-colloidal P (MCP, 220–450 nm), fine-colloidal P (FCP, 1–220 nm), and truly dissolved P (Truly DP, <1 nm) in the sediment over the field soil were 1.37, 1.21, 1.70, and 3.01, respectively. No significant differences were found in the sediment P-trapping function with and without ZMC integrated sediment interceptors. However, the ZMC-interceptors remarkably reduced total P (39.7 % for influent concentrations of 0.19–0.68 mg L−1) from agricultural drainage water compared to those unmodified ceramsite-interceptors (21.7 % for influent concentrations of 0.17–0.66 mg L−1) during the drainage ‘window period’ (June–August 2022). This was mainly due to the higher removal efficacies of MCP (19.7 %), FCP (23.3 %), and Truly DP (34.8 %) of the ZMC-interceptors. This study highlighted that the ZMC-interceptor not only trapped P in the sediment but also facilitated the removal of different-sized P fractionated from agricultural drainage water.