Phosphorus is an important raw material, especially as a fertilizer for agriculture. But in water bodies, it deteriorates the water quality. Since the 1980s, phosphate precipitation has therefore been one of the core processes in municipal wastewater treatment plants. Phosphorus is bound with salts in the sewage sludge. However, because this raw material is also becoming increasingly scarce, it should be recovered there. This can be achieved, for example, if it is present in bound form as vivianite. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have investigated which factors promote the formation of vivianite and thus increase the amount of recoverable phosphorus.
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Source: Phys.org