Bacteria Research Could Reduce Nutrients In Water

A new study has revealed that unnecessary amounts of phosphorus carried by rainwater from farms to lakes can now be greatly reduced.

To complete the study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), researchers from Pennsylvania State University worked together with those from Central Michigan University and Cornell University to learn about the transmission of phosphorus from agricultural lands and streams.

In levels less than 0.02 ppm phosphorus is considered good for water systems. According to Phys.org, it encourages growth of algae and provide a healthy habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms. However, if too much phosphorus is released into waterways, an overgrowth of algae can take place and lead to “depletions in dissolved oxygen” that can kill aquatic life.

"Historical applications of manure and fertilizer have built up phosphorus levels in many of our agricultural soils — often times above and beyond what's needed by crops — which then renders the excess phosphorus susceptible to loss when microbial processes and other hydrological and biogeochemical factors come into play," Anthony Buda, a research hydrologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service told Phys.org.

To have a better understanding on how things such as microbes affect phosphorus migration into waterways, the team of researchers combined field monitoring in Pennsylvania’s Mahantango Creek, a small upland agricultural watershed operated by the USDA.

The objective of the ongoing experiments is to “seek to evaluate the roles of two particular kinds of bacteria” dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria (DIRB) and polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) on phosphorus cycling in soils,” according to Science Daily.

"We are trying to understand two groups of bacteria that could affect whether phosphate is retained in the soil or becomes mobile and gets into the water," John Regan, professor of environmental engineering at Penn State and lead project director said.

Regan added that there has been a lot of research that “models and monitors phosphorus mobility in the soil.”

According to a press release from Penn State, once researchers find out exactly how, and to what extent, bacteria influence the release of phosphorus, they can include the microbial processes in their models and develop tools that can map them across watersheds based on their relationships with the native hydrology.

"The engineer in me wants to reduce this problem," Regan said. "But before we can develop strategies to do this, we need to understand the role and mechanisms of these microbial reactions."

To read more about phosphorous in waterways visit Water Online’s Nutrient Removal Solutions Center.