Utilization of coal fly ash waste for effective recapture of phosphorus from waters.

Reutilization of the waste by-products from industrial and agricultural activities is crucially important towards attainment of environmental sustainability and the 'circular economy'. In this study, we have developed and evaluated a sustainably-sourced adsorbent from coal fly ash, which was modified by a small amount of lanthanum (La-FA), for the recapture of phosphorous (P) from both synthetic and real natural waters. The prepared La-FA adsorbent possessed typical characteristic diffraction peaks similar to zeolite type Na-P1, and the BET surface area of La-FA was measured to be 10.9 times higher than that of the original FA. Investigation of P adsorption capability indicated that the maximum adsorption (10.8 mg P g-1) was 6.14 times higher than that (1.8 mg P g-1) of the original fly ash material. The ζ potentials measurement and P K-edge X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectra demonstrated that P was bonded on La-FA surfaces via an adsorption mechanism. After applying the proposed adsorbent to real lake water with La/P molar ratios in the range from 0.5:1 to 3:1, the La-FA adsorbent showed the highest phosphate removal ability with a La/P molar ratio 1:1, and the P adsorption was similar to that performance with the synthetic solution. Moreover, the La-FA absorbent produced a negligible effect on the concentrations of total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), NH4+-N and NO3--N in water. This study thus provides a potential material for effective P recapture and details of its operation.

A model to determine the lake nutrient standards for drinking water sources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Ecoregion, China.

Lake eutrophication (LE) has become an increasingly severe environmental problem recently. However, there has been no nutrient standard established for LE control in many developing countries such as China. This study proposes a structural equation model to assist in the establishment of a lake nutrient standard for drinking water sources in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Ecoregion (Yungui Ecoregion), China. The modeling results indicate that the most predictive indicator for designated use-attainment is total phosphorus (TP) (total effect = -0.43), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) is recommended as the second important indicator (total effect = -0.41). The model is further used for estimating the probability of use-attainment associated with lake water as a drinking water source and various levels of candidate criteria (based on the reference conditions and the current environmental quality standards for surface water). It is found that these candidate criteria cannot satisfy the designated 100% use-attainment. To achieve the short-term target (85% attainment of the designated use), TP and Chl-a values ought to be less than 0.02 mg/L and 1.4 microg/L, respectively. When used as a long-term target (90% or greater attainment of the designated use), the TP and Chl-a values are suggested to be less than 0.018 mg/L and 1 microg/L, respectively.