Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C514107/1
Colloidal phosphorus speciation in agricultural run-off to catchments using field flow fractionation.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor PJ Worsfold, University of Plymouth, Sch of Earth Ocean and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor PM Haygarth, Lancaster University, Lancaster Environment Centre
- Grant held at:
- University of Plymouth, Sch of Earth Ocean and Environment
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Freshwater
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Pollution and Waste
- Natural Resource Management
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Water Quality
- Sediment/Sedimentary Processes
- Technol. for Environ. Appl.
- Soil science
- Abstract:
- Fertilisers are applied to agricultural land to improve the yield of crops. One of the key constituents of fertilisers is the element phosphorus, which is an essential nutrient element for plant growth. Any phosphorus that is not taken up by plants is retained in the soil and can potentially be transported into watercourses, either in the dissolved form or attached to soil particles. Additional phosphorous in soils is derived from animal waste, The major route for mobilisation is water running off of fields when it rains. The rain leaches phosphorus from the soil and also washes sediments (with phosphorus attached) from fields into streams and rivers. When the phosphorus reaches water bodies it increases the concentration to high levels and can cause excessive growth of algae, known as algal blooms, some of which are toxic. This process is known as eutrophication and seriously degrades the quality of the water. New European Union legislation, known as the Water Framework Directive, requires countries to maintain 'good ecological status' in all of their water bodies and one key aspect of healthy water is low concentrations of nutrient elements such as phosphorus (and nitrogen), in order to minimise the occurrence of algal blooms which would deplete oxygen and sunlight. This project will develop new technology, the technical name for which is flow field flow fractionation (flow FFF) that will allow scientists to measure the concentrations of different phosphorus containing compounds associated with soil particles and in the water itself. Of particular interest is the very fine particulate material, know as colloids, which range from 0.1 to 1.0 micrometres in diameter, because this material carries a large percentage of the total phosphorus. The flow FFF technique is able to separate out the different size fractions of particles, including colloids, and therefore allows us to look at the particle size distributions. An additional challenge is to be able to see to what size particles the phosphorus species are attached and for this we need another new technology, called a liquid core waveguide (LCWG) detector. This device bounces light down a fibre optic cable and gives one hundred times greater sensitivity than previous detectors. The unique aspect of this research is to combine flow-FFF with LCWG detection to give us a new technology that will allow us to see very low concentrations of phosphorus in runoff waters from agricultural land. This knowledge will allow us to improve the way in which fertilisers are used so that they are retained in fields rather than washed into rivers.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C514107/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Small Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Small Grants
This grant award has a total value of £29,747
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Staff | Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £16,937 | £1,897 | £3,122 | £7,791 |
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