Urban Stormwater Phosphorus Export Control: Comparing Traditional and Low-impact Development Best Management Practices.

Data from the International Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Database were used to compare the phosphorus (P) control performance of six categories of stormwater BMPs representing traditional systems (stormwater pond, wetland basin, and detention basin) and low-impact development (LID) systems (bioretention cell, grass swale, and grass strip). Machine learning (ML) models were trained to predict the reduction or enrichment factors of surface runoff concentrations and loadings of total P (TP) and soluble reactive P (SRP) for the different categories of BMP systems. Relative to traditional BMPs, LIDs generally enriched TP and SRP concentrations in stormwater surface outflow and yielded poorer P runoff load control. The SRP concentration reduction and enrichment factors of LIDs also tended to be more sensitive to variations in climate and watershed characteristics. That is, LIDs were more likely to enrich surface runoff SRP concentrations in drier climates, when inflow SRP concentrations were low, and for watersheds exhibiting high impervious land cover. Overall, our results imply that stormwater BMPs do not universally attenuate urban P export and that preferentially implementing LIDs over traditional BMPs may increase TP and SRP export to receiving freshwater bodies, hence magnifying eutrophication risks.

Mollisol Erosion-Driven Efflux of Energetic Organic Carbon and Microflora Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Cold-Region Rivers.

Massive soil erosion occurs in the world's Mollisol regions due to land use change and climate warming. The migration of Mollisol organic matter to river systems and subsequent changes in carbon biogeochemical flow and greenhouse gas fluxes are of global importance but little understood. By employing comparative mesocosm experiments simulating varying erosion intensity in Mollisol regions of northeastern China, this research highlights that erosion-driven export and biomineralization of terrestrial organic matter facilitates CO2 and CH4 emission from receiving rivers. Stronger Mollisol erosion, as represented by a higher soil-to-water ratio in suspensions, increased CO2 efflux, particularly for the paddy Mollisols. This is mechanistically attributable to increased bioavailability of soluble organic carbon in river water that is sourced back to destabilized organic matter, especially from the cultivated Mollisols. Concurrent changes in microbial community structure have enhanced both aerobic and anaerobic processes as reflected by the coemission of CO2 and CH4. Higher greenhouse gas effluxes from paddy Mollisol suspensions suggest that agricultural land use by supplying more nitrogen-containing, higher-free-energy organic components may have enhanced microbial respiration. These new findings highlight that Mollisol erosion is a hidden significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions from river water, given that the world's four major Mollisol belts are all experiencing intensive cultivation.

Energetic scaling in microbial growth.

Microbial growth is a clear example of organization and structure arising in nonequilibrium conditions. Due to the complexity of the microbial metabolic network, elucidating the fundamental principles governing microbial growth remains a challenge. Here, we present a systematic analysis of microbial growth thermodynamics, leveraging an extensive dataset on energy-limited monoculture growth. A consistent thermodynamic framework based on reaction stoichiometry allows us to quantify how much of the available energy microbes can efficiently convert into new biomass while dissipating the remaining energy into the environment and producing entropy. We show that dissipation mechanisms can be linked to the electron donor uptake rate, a fact leading to the central result that the thermodynamic efficiency is related to the electron donor uptake rate by the scaling law [Formula: see text] and to the growth yield by [Formula: see text] These findings allow us to rederive the Pirt equation from a thermodynamic perspective, providing a means to compute its coefficients, as well as a deeper understanding of the relationship between growth rate and yield. Our results provide rather general insights into the relation between mass and energy conversion in microbial growth with potentially wide application, especially in ecology and biotechnology.

Loss of Selenium from Mollisol Paddy Wetlands of Cold Regions: Insights from Flow-through Reactor Experiments and Process-Based Modeling.

Mollisols are critical agricultural resources for securing global food supply. Due to its health importance, selenium (Se) fate in the Mollisols attracts growing concerns. Land use change from conventional drylands to paddy wetlands impacts Se bioavailability in the vulnerable Mollisol agroecosystems. The underlying processes and mechanisms however remain elusive. Here, results of flow-through reactor experiments with paddy Mollisols from northern cold-region sites indicate that continuous flooding with surface water for 48 d induced redox zonation that facilitated the loss of Mollisol Se by up to 51%. Further process-based biogeochemical modeling suggests largest degradation rates of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in 30 cm deep Mollisols that contained the highest-level labile DOM and organic-bound Se. Electron shunting from degradation of Se-bearing DOM coupled to reductive dissolution of Se-adsorbed Fe oxides accounts mainly for Se(IV) release into the pore water. Consequent changes in DOM molecular composition make the reservoir of organic-bound Se vulnerable to flooding-induced redox zonation and likely enhance Se loss through destruction of thiolated Se and emission of gaseous Se from the Mollisol layer. This study highlights a neglected scenario where the speciation-driven loss of bioavailable Se from the paddy wetlands can be a significant consequence in the cold-region Mollisol agroecosystems.

Fluvial Deposition and Land Use Change Control Selenium Occurrence in Mollisols of Cold Region Agroecosystems.

Mollisols support the most productive agroecosystems in the world. Despite their critical links to food quality and human health, the varying distributions of selenium (Se) species and factors governing Se mobility in the mollisol vadose zone remain elusive. This research reveals that, in northern mollisol agroecosystems, Se hotspots (≥0.32 mg/kg) prevail along the regional river systems draining the Lesser Khingan Mountains, where piedmont Se-rich oil shales are the most probable source of regional Se. While selenate and selenite dominate Se species in the water-soluble and absorbed pools, mollisol organic matter is the major host for Se. Poorly crystalline and crystalline Fe oxides are subordinate in Se retention, hosting inorganic and organic Se at levels comparable to those in the adsorbed pool. The depth-dependent distributions of mollisol Se species for the non-cropland and cropland sites imply a predominance of reduced forms of Se under the mildly acidic and reducing conditions that, in turn, are variably impacted by agricultural land use. These findings therefore highlight that fluvial deposition and land use change together are the main drivers of the spatial variability and speciation of mollisol Se.

Spatiotemporal Variability of Groundwater Iodine in the Northern Arid Basins: Significance for Safe Water Supply.

The genesis of geogenic iodine (I)-contaminated groundwater poses a significant threat to long-term water exploitation. Safe and sustainable water supply, particularly in the northern arid basins, demands a quantitative prediction of the high variability of I distribution over hydrogeological timescales. Here, bioenergetics-informed reactive transport modeling was combined with high-resolution molecular characterization of fueling organic matter to decipher the time-controlled interactions between vertical flow and (bio)geochemical processes in I transport within the Datong aquifers. The declining reactivities of I-bearing organic matter and Fe oxides in the 15-40 m depth decreased the rate of I release, while a growing number of pore volumes flushed through the aquifers to leach out I- and organic I. This removal effect is compensated by the desorption of I- from Fe oxides and secondary FeS generated from the concurrent reduction of Fe oxides and SO42-. Consequently, peak concentrations of groundwater I- may have appeared, depending upon the vertical recharge rate, at the first several pore volumes flushed through the aquifers. The current vertical distributions of the various I species likely represent a quasi-steady state between I mobilization and leaching. These new mechanistic insights into the dynamic hydrogeological-(bio)geochemical processes support secure groundwater use in the I-affected northern arid basins.

Pore-Scale Heterogeneities Improve the Degradation of a Self-Inhibiting Substrate: Insights from Reactive Transport Modeling.

In situ bioremediation is a common remediation strategy for many groundwater contaminants. It was traditionally believed that (in the absence of mixing-limitations) a better in situ bioremediation is obtained in a more homogeneous medium where the even distribution of both substrate and bacteria facilitates the access of a larger portion of the bacterial community to a higher amount of substrate. Such conclusions were driven with the typical assumption of disregarding substrate inhibitory effects on the metabolic activity of enzymes at high concentration levels. To investigate the influence of pore matrix heterogeneities on substrate inhibition, we use a numerical approach to solve reactive transport processes in the presence of pore-scale heterogeneities. To this end, a rigorous reactive pore network model is developed and used to model the reactive transport of a self-inhibiting substrate under both transient and steady-state conditions through media with various, spatially correlated, pore-size distributions. For the first time, we explore on the basis of a pore-scale model approach the link between pore-size heterogeneities and substrate inhibition. Our results show that for a self-inhibiting substrate, (1) pore-scale heterogeneities can consistently promote degradation rates at toxic levels, (2) the effect reverses when the concentrations fall to levels essential for microbial growth, and (3) an engineered combination of homogeneous and heterogeneous media can increase the overall efficiency of bioremediation.

Direct Measurement of Aqueous Mercury(II): Combining DNA-Based Sensing with Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films.

A highly specific DNA-functionalized hydrogel sensing layer was integrated with the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique for the direct determination of aqueous mercury(II). The DNA-functionalized layer in the DGT unit exhibited both high affinity (complexation constant Kc = 1019.8 at 25 °C) and high binding capacity (9.5 mg Hg disk-1) toward Hg2+. The diffusion coefficient for Hg2+ complexed with common inorganic ligands was an order of magnitude higher than that for Hg2+ complexed with natural dissolved organic matter: 9.0 × 10-6 versus 9.8 × 10-7 cm2 s-1 at 25 °C. The performance of the DNA-DGT sensor was further assessed under variable pH (3-10) and temperature (5-40 °C) conditions, as well as across a range of hydrochemically diverse artificial and natural freshwaters. The observed effects of the environmental and solution compositional variables on Hg2+ binding to the DNA in the sensing layer were successfully accounted for by equilibrium speciation calculations and temperature-corrected, multicomponent diffusion coefficients for aqueous Hg(II). The results therefore support the use of the DNA-DGT sensor as an alternative to traditional sampling and analysis methods for measuring aqueous Hg(II) concentrations down to the nanomolar level in freshwater environments.

Oxidation of Fe(II) by Flavins under Anoxic Conditions.

Flavin-mediated electron transfer is an important pathway for Fe(III) reduction by dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria. Although the mechanisms and kinetics of Fe(III) reduction by reduced flavins have been widely studied, the reaction between Fe(II) and oxidized flavins is rarely investigated. Results of this study show that under anoxic conditions, Fe(II) can be oxidized by the oxidized forms of riboflavin (RBF) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN) at pH 7-9. For instance, at pH 9, 73% of 17.8 µM Fe(II) was oxidized by 10 µM RBF within 20 min. Both the rate and extent of oxidation increased with increasing concentrations of oxidized flavins and increasing solution pH. Thermodynamic calculations and kinetic analyses implied that the oxidation of Fe(II) proceeded predominantly via the autodecomposition of Fe2+-RBF- and Fe2+-FMN- complexes, along with minor contributions from direct oxidation of Fe(II) by flavins and flavin radicals. Our findings suggest that the reoxidation of Fe(II) by oxidized flavins may be a rate-controlling factor in microbial Fe(III) reduction via flavin-mediated electron transfer.

Nitrous oxide emissions from inland waters: Are IPCC estimates too high?

Nitrous oxide (N2 O) emissions from inland waters remain a major source of uncertainty in global greenhouse gas budgets. N2 O emissions are typically estimated using emission factors (EFs), defined as the proportion of the terrestrial nitrogen (N) load to a water body that is emitted as N2 O to the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has proposed EFs of 0.25% and 0.75%, though studies have suggested that both these values are either too high or too low. In this work, we develop a mechanistic modeling approach to explicitly predict N2 O production and emissions via nitrification and denitrification in rivers, reservoirs and estuaries. In particular, we introduce a water residence time dependence, which kinetically limits the extent of denitrification and nitrification in water bodies. We revise existing spatially explicit estimates of N loads to inland waters to predict both lumped watershed and half-degree grid cell emissions and EFs worldwide, as well as the proportions of these emissions that originate from denitrification and nitrification. We estimate global inland water N2 O emissions of 10.6-19.8 Gmol N year-1 (148-277 Gg N year-1 ), with reservoirs producing most N2 O per unit area. Our results indicate that IPCC EFs are likely overestimated by up to an order of magnitude, and that achieving the magnitude of the IPCC's EFs is kinetically improbable in most river systems. Denitrification represents the major pathway of N2 O production in river systems, whereas nitrification dominates production in reservoirs and estuaries.

Arsenic Oxidation by Flavin-Derived Reactive Species under Oxic and Anoxic Conditions: Oxidant Formation and pH Dependence.

Flavins are ubiquitous redox-active compounds capable of producing reactive oxygen (O2•-, •OH, and H2O2) and flavin radical species in natural environments, yet their roles in the redox transformations of environmental contaminants, such as arsenic (As), remain to be investigated. Here, we show that reduced flavins can be a source of effective oxidants for As(III) under both oxic and anoxic conditions. For instance, in the presence of 15 µM reduced riboflavin (RBFH2), 22% of 30 µM As(III) is oxidized in aerated solution at pH 7.0. The co-oxidation of As(III) with RBFH2 is pH-dependent, with a faster reaction rate under mildly acidic relative to alkaline conditions. Quencher tests with 2-propanol (for •OH) and catalase (for H2O2) indicate that As(III) oxidation under oxic conditions is likely controlled by flavin-derived •OH at pH 5.2 and 7.0, and by H2O2 at pH 9.0. Kinetic modeling further implies that flavin-derived reactive oxygen species are mainly responsible for As(III) oxidation under oxic conditions, whereas oxidation of As(III) under anoxic conditions at pH 9.0 is attributed to riboflavin radicals (RBFH•) generated from co-existing oxidized and reduced riboflavin. The demonstrated ability of flavins to catalyze As(III) oxidation has potential implications for As redox cycling in the environment.

Linking Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP) and Subsurface Microbial Processes: Results from Sand Column Incubation Experiments.

Geophysical techniques, such as spectral induced polarization (SIP), offer potentially powerful approaches for in situ monitoring of subsurface biogeochemistry. The successful implementation of these techniques as monitoring tools for reactive transport phenomena, however, requires the deconvolution of multiple contributions to measured signals. Here, we present SIP spectra and complementary biogeochemical data obtained in saturated columns packed with alternating layers of ferrihydrite-coated and pure quartz sand, and inoculated with Shewanella oneidensis supplemented with lactate and nitrate. A biomass-explicit diffusion-reaction model is fitted to the experimental biogeochemical data. Overall, the results highlight that (1) the temporal response of the measured imaginary conductivity peaks parallels the microbial growth and decay dynamics in the columns, and (2) SIP is sensitive to changes in microbial abundance and cell surface charging properties, even at relatively low cell densities (<108 cells mL-1). Relaxation times (τ) derived using the Cole-Cole model vary with the dominant electron accepting process, nitrate or ferric iron reduction. The observed range of τ values, 0.012-0.107 s, yields effective polarization diameters in the range 1-3 µm, that is, 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest quartz grains in the columns, suggesting that polarization of the bacterial cells controls the observed chargeability and relaxation dynamics in the experiments.

Sensing Coated Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles with Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP): Experiments in Natural Sand Packed Flow-Through Columns.

The development of nanoparticle-based soil remediation techniques is hindered by the lack of accurate in situ nanoparticle (NP) monitoring and characterization methods. Spectral induced polarization (SIP), a noninvasive geophysical technique, offers a promising approach to detect and quantify NPs in porous media. However, its successful implementation as a monitoring tool requires an understanding of the polarization mechanisms, the governing NP-associated SIP responses and their dependence on the stabilizing coatings that are typically used for NPs deployed in environmental applications. Herein, we present SIP responses (0.1-10 000 Hz) measured during injection of a poloxamer-coated superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticle (SPION) suspension in flow-through columns packed with natural sand from the Borden aquifer. An advective-dispersive transport model is fitted to outflow SPION concentration measurements to compute average concentrations over the SIP spatial response domain (within the columns). The average SPION concentrations are compared with the real and imaginary components of the complex conductivity. Excellent correspondence is found between the average SPION concentrations in the columns and the imaginary conductivity values, suggesting that NP-mediated polarization (that is, charge storage) increases proportionally with increasing SPION concentration. Our results support the possibility of SIP monitoring of spatial and temporal NP distributions, which can be immediately deployed in bench-scale studies with the prospect of future real-world field applications.

Global phosphorus retention by river damming.

More than 70,000 large dams have been built worldwide. With growing water stress and demand for energy, this number will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. Damming greatly modifies the ecological functioning of river systems. In particular, dam reservoirs sequester nutrient elements and, hence, reduce downstream transfer of nutrients to floodplains, lakes, wetlands, and coastal marine environments. Here, we quantify the global impact of dams on the riverine fluxes and speciation of the limiting nutrient phosphorus (P), using a mechanistic modeling approach that accounts for the in-reservoir biogeochemical transformations of P. According to the model calculations, the mass of total P (TP) trapped in reservoirs nearly doubled between 1970 and 2000, reaching 42 Gmol y(-1), or 12% of the global river TP load in 2000. Because of the current surge in dam building, we project that by 2030, about 17% of the global river TP load will be sequestered in reservoir sediments. The largest projected increases in TP and reactive P (RP) retention by damming will take place in Asia and South America, especially in the Yangtze, Mekong, and Amazon drainage basins. Despite the large P retention capacity of reservoirs, the export of RP from watersheds will continue to grow unless additional measures are taken to curb anthropogenic P emissions.

Agricultural soil denitrifiers possess extensive nitrite reductase gene diversity.

Denitrification transforms nitrogen applied as fertilizer and emits N2 O, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Very little is known about the identities of abundant and active denitrifiers in agricultural soils. We coupled DNA stable-isotope probing (DNA-SIP) with flow-through reactors (FTRs) to detect active agricultural soil denitrifiers. The FTRs were incubated with nitrate and 13 C6 -glucose under anoxic conditions and sampled at multiple time points. Labelled DNA from active microorganisms was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting, amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Taxonomic representation of heavy fractions was consistent across sites and time points, including Betaproteobacteria (71%; Janthinobacterium, Acidovorax, Azoarcus and Dechloromonas), Alphaproteobacteria (8%; Rhizobium), Gammaproteobacteria (4%; Pseudomonas) and Actinobacteria (4%; Streptomycetaceae). Most nitrite-reductase reads from heavy DNA annotated to the copper-containing form (nirK). Assigned taxonomies of active denitrifiers based on reads matching the nirK gene were comparable to those obtained through nitric oxide (norB) and RNA polymerase (rpoB) annotations but not the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ). Analysis of recovered metagenomes from heavy DNA demonstrated extensive nirK sequence family diversity, including novel taxonomic groups that are not captured by existing primers.

Fate of Adsorbed U(VI) during Sulfidization of Lepidocrocite and Hematite.

The impact on U(VI) adsorbed to lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH) and hematite (α-Fe2O3) was assessed when exposed to aqueous sulfide (S(-II)aq) at pH 8.0. With both minerals, competition between S(-II) and U(VI) for surface sites caused instantaneous release of adsorbed U(VI). Compared to lepidocrocite, consumption of S(-II)aq proceeded slower with hematite, but yielded maximum dissolved U concentrations that were more than 10 times higher, representing about one-third of the initially adsorbed U. Prolonged presence of S(-II)aq in experiments with hematite in combination with a larger release of adsorbed U(VI), enhanced the reduction of U(VI): after 24 h of reaction about 60-70% of U was in the form of U(IV), much higher than the 25% detected in the lepidocrocite suspensions. X-ray absorption spectra indicated that U(IV) in both hematite and lepidocrocite suspensions was not in the form of uraninite (UO2). Upon exposure to oxygen only part of U(IV) reoxidized, suggesting that monomeric U(IV) might have become incorporated in newly formed iron precipitates. Hence, sulfidization of Fe oxides can have diverse consequences for U mobility: in short-term, desorption of U(VI) increases U mobility, while reduction to U(IV) and its possible incorporation in Fe transformation products may lead to long-term U immobilization.

Direct Discharges of Domestic Wastewater are a Major Source of Phosphorus and Nitrogen to the Mediterranean Sea.

Direct discharges of treated and untreated wastewater are important sources of nutrients to coastal marine ecosystems and contribute to their eutrophication. Here, we estimate the spatially distributed annual inputs of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) associated with direct domestic wastewater discharges from coastal cities to the Mediterranean Sea (MS). According to our best estimates, in 2003 these inputs amounted to 0.9 × 10(9) mol P yr(-1) and 15 × 10(9) mol N yr(-1), that is, values on the same order of magnitude as riverine inputs of P and N to the MS. By 2050, in the absence of any mitigation, population growth plus higher per capita protein intake and increased connectivity to the sewer system are projected to increase P inputs to the MS via direct wastewater discharges by 254, 163, and 32% for South, East, and North Mediterranean countries, respectively. Complete conversion to tertiary wastewater treatment would reduce the 2050 inputs to below their 2003 levels, but at an estimated additional cost of over €2 billion yr(-1). Management of coastal eutrophication may be best achieved by targeting tertiary treatment upgrades to the most affected near-shore areas, while simultaneously implementing legislation limiting P in detergents and increasing wastewater reuse across the entire basin.

Iron Isotope Fractionations Reveal a Finite Bioavailable Fe Pool for Structural Fe(III) Reduction in Nontronite.

We report on stable Fe isotope fractionation during microbial and chemical reduction of structural Fe(III) in nontronite NAu-1. (56)Fe/(54)Fe fractionation factors between aqueous Fe(II) and structural Fe(III) ranged from -1.2 to +0.8‰. Microbial (Shewanella oneidensis and Geobacter sulfurreducens) and chemical (dithionite) reduction experiments revealed a two-stage process. Stage 1 was characterized by rapid reduction of a finite Fe(III) pool along the edges of the clay particles, accompanied by a limited release to solution of Fe(II), which partially adsorbed onto basal planes. Stable Fe isotope compositions revealed that electron transfer and atom exchange (ETAE) occurred between edge-bound Fe(II) and octahedral (structural) Fe(III) within the clay lattice, as well as between aqueous Fe(II) and structural Fe(III) via a transient sorbed phase. The isotopic fractionation factors decreased with increasing extent of reduction as a result of the depletion of the finite bioavailable Fe(III) pool. During stage 2, microbial reduction was inhibited while chemical reduction continued. However, further ETAE between aqueous Fe(II) and structural Fe(III) was not observed. Our results imply that the pool of bioavailable Fe(III) is restricted to structural Fe sites located near the edges of the clay particles. Blockage of ETAE distinguishes Fe(III) reduction of layered clay minerals from that of Fe oxyhydroxides, where accumulation of structural Fe(II) is much more limited.

Kinetics of Substrate Biodegradation under the Cumulative Effects of Bioavailability and Self-Inhibition.

Microbial degradation is an important process in many environments controlling for instance the cycling of nutrients or the biodegradation of contaminants. At high substrate concentrations toxic effects may inhibit the degradation process. Bioavailability limitations of a degradable substrate can therefore either improve the overall dynamics of degradation by softening the contaminant toxicity effects to microorganisms, or slow down the biodegradation by reducing the microbial access to the substrate. Many studies on biodegradation kinetics of a self-inhibitive substrate have mainly focused on physiological responses of the bacteria to substrate concentration levels without considering the substrate bioavailability limitations rising from different geophysical and geochemical dynamics at pore-scale. In this regard, the role of bioavailability effects on the kinetics of self-inhibiting substrates is poorly understood. In this study, we theoretically analyze this role and assess the interactions between self-inhibition and mass transfer-limitations using analytical/numerical solutions, and show the findings practical relevance for a simple model scenario. Although individually self-inhibition and mass-transfer limitations negatively impact biodegradation, their combined effect may enhance biodegradation rates above a concentration threshold. To our knowledge, this is the first theoretical study describing the cumulative effects of the two mechanisms together.

Co-precipitation of iron and silicon: Reaction kinetics, elemental ratios and the influence of phosphorus.

A sufficient supply of dissolved silicon (DSi) relative to dissolved phosphorus (DP) may decrease the likelihood of harmful algal blooms in eutrophic waters. Oxidative precipitation of Fe(II) at oxic-anoxic interfaces may contribute to the immobilization of DSi, thereby exerting control over the DSi availability in the overlying water. Nevertheless, the efficacy of DSi immobilization in this context remains to be precisely determined. To investigate the behavior of DSi during Fe(II) oxidation, anoxic solutions containing mixtures of aqueous Fe(II), DSi, and dissolved phosphorus (DP) were exposed to dissolved oxygen (DO) in the batch system. The experimental data, combined with kinetic reaction modeling, indicate that DSi removal during Fe(II) oxidation occurs via two pathways. At the beginning of the experiments, the oxidation of Fe(II)-DSi complexes induces the fast removal of DSi. Upon complete oxidation of Fe(II), further DSi removal is due to adsorption to surface sites of the Fe(III) oxyhydroxides. The presence of DP effectively competes with DSi via both of these pathways during the initial and later stages of the experiments, with as a result more limited removal of DSi during Fe(II) oxidation. Overall, we conclude that at near neutral pH the oxidation of Fe(II) has considerable capacity to immobilize DSi, where the rapid homogeneous oxidation of Fe(II)-DSi results in greater DSi removal compared to surface adsorption. Elevated DP concentration, however, effectively outcompetes DSi in co-precipitation interactions, potentially contributing to enhanced DSi availability within aquatic systems.