Phosphorus Cycling in a Sedimentation Pond of a Constructed Wetland
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Phosphorus cycling in a sedimentation pond of a constructed wetland Santiago Clerici Michael Krom, Robert Mortimer and Sally MacKenzie WWT Slimbridge River Severn •Effluents high in N, P, Organic Matter and suspended solids •River Severn estuary downstream The treatment wetland •Sedimentation pond to remove Ditch suspended matter Inflow •PO and excess suspended Cascade 4 Reserve matter taken up by reed beds 100 mts Failing of the treatment wetland Excess P is being exported from the system Palmer Felgate et.al 2011: Sedimentation pond becomes source of P in summer Collapse of algal blooms in early Summer: . P released by redox reactions when oxygen levels go down . P released by decomposition of algal matter Objectives To find the dominant processes controlling P cycling in the sedimentation pond in Spring and Summer To know whether the sediment is a source or a sink of Phosphorus? To find the major processes controlling P cycling in the sediment and whether they change seasonally? Model of P cycling in the water column INLET Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow Algal uptake PO Outflow Part P Outflow POND POND 4 Part P Respiration PO4 Resuspension Sediment fluxes Settling Moles P / day Chlorophyll and Oxygen levels DO - March 2011 125 Bloom 100 75 50 25 DO (% saturation)DO 0 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 time Chl.a 450 Bloom DO - June 2011 125 300 100 75 Chl.a (μg/l) 150 Crash 50 Crash 25 DO (%DO saturation) 0 0 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 date time Night hours Sampling P at inlet and pond INLET Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow Algal uptake Part P Outflow POND POND PO4 Outflow Part P Respiration PO4 Settling Sediment fluxes Resuspension Calculating water column fluxes INLET Obscured incubation Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow 25 Only respiration Algal uptake Part P Outflow POND POND PO4 Outflow Part P Respiration PO4 (μM P) 4 Settling Sediment fluxes PO Resuspension 20 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 time Open incubation 25 Photosynthesis + respiration (μM P) 4 PO 20 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 time Calculating sediment fluxes INLET PO4 in Benthic Chamber #1 March Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow 1.5 Algal uptake Part P Outflow POND POND PO4 Outflow Part P Respiration PO4 (μM P) Settling Sediment fluxes 4 Resuspension PO 0 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 time PO4 in Benthic Chamber #1 June 35 25 (μM P) 4 PO 15 12:00 18:00 00:00 06:00 12:00 18:00 time P fluxes March INLET Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow 14 2 Algal uptake Part P Outflow PO4 Outflow 1 Pond Part P Pond PO4 1 12 14 moles 2 moles Settling Sediment fluxes 4 0.1/0.2 Fluxes in moles P / day P fluxes June INLET Part P Inflow PO4 Inflow 16 47 Algal uptake Part P Outflow PO4 Outflow 2 13 Pond Part P Pond PO4 55 9 moles Respiration 35 moles Settling 1 Sediment fluxes 6 10 Fluxes in moles P / day Sediment phosphorus cycle (after Slomp et al 1996) PO4 To outlets Water Sediment Pore water Organic P Fe~P Ca~P PO4 Apatite P Water: it transports PO4 Solid: it retains P but it can be released it back into water Solid: it retains P indefinitely Description of the solid phase 5 0.75 1 0 -5 sediment content 0 0 50 100 20x increase depth(cm) depth(cm) -10 -5 -15 % O2 saturation porosity Organic P ↔ Pore water PO4 PO4 Increased respiration in June uM NH4 Pore water 5 Organic P PO4 200 moles P released between March and June 0 400 Organic P (μ mole P / litre) 0 -5 0 16000 depth (cm) -8 depth (cm) March june -15 June -16 march Iron~P ↔ Pore water PO4 PO4 Increased dissolved iron in June uM Fe Pore water 5 Fe~P PO4 25 moles P released between March and June 0 300 Iron~P (μ mole P / litre) -5 0 0 16000 depth (cm) -8 depth (cm) june March -16 march -15 June Apatite P ↔ Pore water PO4 PO4 Consumption of calcium in June Pore water Ca2+ (μ mole Ca / litre) PO4 0 0 8000 Apatite P 100 moles P consumed between march and June Apatite P (μ mole P / litre) 0 -6 0 16000 depth (cm) -8 depth (cm) june -12 -16 march Pore water PO4 ↔ Water column PO4 PO4 (μM) - March PO4 (μM) - June 5 5 0 80 0 600 -5 -5 depth (cm) depth (cm) -15 -15 Calculated: 0.3 mole P / day Calculated: 7 moles P / day Summary: control of P in the water column Pond retains 15% of Particulate P, both in March and June Algal bloom in March Oxygen saturation Algae and sediments take up SRP in March Collapse of algal bloom Oxygen levels very low in June Large plume of SRP flows in, in June Important release of P from sediments in June Summary: release of P from sediments Release of PO4 mainly by consumption of accumulated organic matter Redox related dissolution of Fe also contributes to the release of PO4 Precipitation of apatite counteracts, in part, the release of PO4 .