PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Chad J. Penn
AU  - Ray B. Bryant
AU  - Peter J. A. Kleinman
AU  - Arthur L. Allen
TI  - Removing dissolved phosphorus from drainage ditch water with phosphorus sorbing materials
DP  - 2007 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
PG  - 269--276
VI  - 62
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/4/269.short
4100  - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/4/269.full
AB  - The loss of nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P), in agricultural drainage waters is a priority conservation concern. Open drainage ditches concentrate runoff and therefore offer opportunities for capturing P in runoff from large areas of land. This paper provides an overview of the potential to use P sorbing materials in drainage ditches to sequester dissolved P from ditch water. We describe factors affecting the selection of P sorbing materials for use in treating ditch water and review several approaches to their application in ditches. In addition, experiential insight is provided with regard to developing and installing a P removal structure within a ditch that has high concentrations of dissolved P in flow. Preliminary data indicate that such structures have great promise in treating not only dissolved P in ditch flow, but also trace metals (arsenic, copper, nickel, zinc).