Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2026

A Protocol for Collecting and Constructing Soil Core Lysimeters
Published on: June 6, 2016
Effects of alum and aluminum chloride on phosphorus runoff from swine manure
D R Smith1, P A Moore, C L Griffis
1Dep of Crops, Soils and Environmental Sciences, Univ of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701, USA. drs03@mail.uark.edu
Abstract:
Phosphorus (P) runoff from fields fertilized with swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) manure may contribute to eutrophication. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of aluminum sulfate (alum) and aluminum chloride applications to swine manure on P runoff from small plots cropped to tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Shreb.). There were six treatments in this study: (i) unfertilized control plots, (ii) untreated manure, (iii) manure with alum at 215 mg Al L(-1), (iv) manure with aluminum chloride at 215 mg Al L(-1), (v) manure with alum at 430 mg Al L(-1), and (vi) manure with aluminum chloride at 430 mg Al L(-1). Manure application rates were equivalent to approximately 125 kg N ha(-1). Alum and aluminum chloride additions lowered soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) levels from about 130 mg P L(-1) to approximately 30 mg P L(-1) at low rates. At high rates, SRP levels in swine manure were around 1 mg P L(-1). Soluble reactive P concentrations in runoff were 5.50, 3.66, 3.00, 0.87, 0.87, and 0.55 mg P L(-1), for normal manure, low alum, low aluminum chloride, high alum, high aluminum chloride, and unfertilized control plots, respectively. Hence, high alum and aluminum chloride reduced SRP concentrations in runoff by 84% and were not statistically different from SRP concentrations in runoff from unfertilized control plots. These data indicate that treating swine manure with alum or aluminum chloride could result in significant reductions in nonpoint-source P runoff.
More Related Videos
10:49Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading
Published on: March 6, 2014
08:21Optimized Procedure for Determining the Adsorption of Phosphonates onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide using a Miniaturized Phosphorus Determination Method
Published on: May 18, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Factors Affecting Solubility
Coagulation
Microbial Bioremediation of Uranium
Acid Mine Drainage
Precipitation of Ions
The equation that describes the equilibrium between solid calcium carbonate and its solvated ions is:
Colloidal precipitates