Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading
Published on: March 6, 2014
Granulation of drinking water treatment residuals as applicable media for phosphorus removal
Xiuqing Li1, Jun Cui1, Yuansheng Pei1
1The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
Abstract:
Recycling drinking water treatment residuals (DWTR) show promise as a strategy for phosphorus (P) removal; however, powdered DWTR is not an ideal practical medium due to clogging. This study granulates DWTR by entrapping powdered DWTR in alginate beads. Results show that granular DWTR has an appreciable amount of mesopores along with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 43.8 m2/g and total pore volume of 0.049 cm3/g. Most metals (e.g., Al, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in granular DWTR became more stable and granular DWTR could be considered non-hazardous material. Further analysis indicates that the granular DWTR has strong P adsorption capability with a maximum adsorption capacity of 19.70 mg/g as estimated by the Langmuir model. Good P adsorption may be attributed to the formation of Fe-PO4 and Al-PO4 associated with the amorphous state of enormous iron and aluminum in granular DWTR. More importantly, granular DWTR exhibits good mechanical stability and maintained its shape with weight loss below 12.49% after three recycling rounds. Overall, granular DWTR appears to serve as better media for phosphorus removal in water treatment structures such as wetlands.
Related Concept Videos
The Phosphorus Cycle
Residual Plots
When the residual values are plotted against the variable x, it is called a residual...
Residual Stresses
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Residual Stresses in Circular Shafts
Residual Stresses in Bending

