Permeable reactive barriers for preventing water bodies from a phosphorus-polluted agricultural runoff-column experiment

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the potential of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) as an in-situ removal approach for phosphate polluted agricultural runoff. Four different reactive materials (RMs) of: autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC), Polonite®, zeolite and limestone were tested. The study was conducted as a column experiment with a sandy loam soil type charging underlying RM layers with phosphorus (P) and a soil column without RM as a reference. The experiment was carried out over 90 days. During this time the P-PO4 load from the reference column equaled 6.393 mg and corresponds to 3.87 kg/ha. Tested RMs are characterized by high P-PO4 retention equaling 99, 98, 88 and 65% for Polonite®, AAC, zeolite and limestone, respectively. At common annual P loss rates of 1 kg/ha from intensively used agricultural soils, the PRB volume ranged from 48 to 67 m3 would reduce the load between 65 and 99% for the RMs tested in this study.