Retention and Removal of Suspended Solids and Total Phosphorus from Water by Riparian Reeds
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 9
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 of the river), the SS deposition rates per unit of concentration were between 0.025 and 0.031 , and the TP concentration was decreased from with decreasing rate of 41–50%, while in the nonreed zone (the downstream ), the SS deposition rates were only between 0.0073 and 0.0092 and the TP concentration was reduced from 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 reed zone than the surrounding water area. For the reed zone, water TP concentration was positively correlated to water SS content, but this relation disappeared in the nonreed zone. In both reed and nonreed zones, water dissolved reactive phosphorus concentration showed a significant negative relation to water SS content. Furthermore, water SS content and TP concentration appeared to be linked to reed density, and high reed density reduced the water flow velocity, resulting in lower water SS content and TP concentration.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 50079009), the Six-Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province, and the Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2007526).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 9 • September 2008
Pages: 771 - 777
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 16, 2007
Accepted: Feb 25, 2008
Published online: Sep 1, 2008
Published in print: Sep 2008
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