Phosphorus recycling from wastewater to agriculture using reactive filter media

Abstract: This thesis focused on testing the suitability of reactive filter media used for phosphorus (P) removal from wastewater as fertilizers, thus recycling P to agriculture. The work compared the P sorption capacity of several materials in order to assess their suitability as a source of P for plants. The selected materials (Filtra P, Polonite and wollastonite) were saturated with P and used as soil amendments in a pot experiment. The amendments tended to improve the yield of barley and ryegrass compared with no P addition. The amendments also increased soil pH, P availability and cation exchange capacity in the studied soils. The substrates studied here can be of particular interest for acid soils. Of the materials studied, Polonite appears to be the most suitable substrate for the recycling of P from wastewater to agriculture