ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Using Chemically Treated Organic
Recycling Materials to Enhance
Freshwater Purification
Agnieszka Bednarek1,2, Sebastian Szklarek1,2, Katarzyna Dziedziczak3,
Bogusław Kowalski3, Maciej Zalewski1,2
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1Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection,
University of Łódź, Banacha 12/16, 90-264 Łódź, Poland
2European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Tylna 3, 90-364 Łódź, Poland
3Institute for Sustainable Technologies National Research Institute,
The Textile Technologies Department in Łódź,
Hipoteczna 6, 91-335 Łódź, Poland
Submission date: 2015-10-17
Final revision date: 2016-03-18
Acceptance date: 2016-03-19
Publication date: 2016-10-05
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2016;25(5):1847-1855
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ABSTRACT
The greatest source of phosphorus pollution in the freshwater ecosystem is erosion from agricultural
areas and point sources. Although this pollution is typically moderated by precipitation and sedimentation,
biological and physicochemical methods can be used. The aim of our study was to construct an alternative
prototype solution incorporating a filter bed made of suitable recycled phytogenic materials (hemp and harl
flax) mixed with chemical compounds (Ca(OH)2, FeCl3, and Al2(SO4)3) based on the results of laboratory
and field experiments. An 80-90% reduction was noted for deposits with Ca(OH)2 and Al2(SO4)3 compounds,
and 42% for FeCl3 during laboratory studies. The field studies did not provide such a high reduction of
phosphates – only 2% for the Ca(OH)2 deposit and 49% for the FeCl3 deposit. This could be attributed
to variable physical parameters (pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen) and high negative correlation
(r = -0.6296; p = 0.003) with nitrate reduction for the Ca(OH)2 deposit. However, greater reduction was
noted when the phosphate concentration exceeded 1 mg PO43- L-1 in field experiments.