Retention and Removal of Suspended Solids and Total Phosphorus from Water by Riparian Reeds

Abstract

Riparian reeds in rivers may be able to remove contaminants such as phosphorus. In this study, a selected river section was surveyed to investigate the effects of riparian reeds on the suspended solids (SS) and total phosphorus (TP) in the water. Six observation periods over two years showed that in the reed zone (the upstream 8.1 km of the river), the SS deposition rates per unit of concentration were between 0.025 and 0.031 1∕km , and the TP concentration was decreased from 0.28–0.62 to 0.165–0.31 mg∕L with decreasing rate of 41–50%, while in the nonreed zone (the downstream 8.1 km ), the SS deposition rates were only between 0.0073 and 0.0092 1∕km and the TP concentration was reduced from 0.15–0.30 to 0.12–0.24 mg∕L with decreasing rate of 20% or so. The presence of riparian reeds could result in a SS deposition rate four times higher than that in a reed-free area, and the TP removal rate for the nonreed zone was only 40–48.78% of that for the reed zone. Water SS content was significantly lower in the ...