Phosphorus purification in a paddy field watershed using a circular irrigation system and the role of iron compounds

In a paddy field watershed using a circular irrigation system, it was clear that the watershed tended to purify phosphorus by an analysis on the mass balance of pollutants. A reasonable hypothesis was that the phosphorus precipitation with iron compounds in a river may affect the purification. To verify this, an investigation on phosphorus and iron in the river water and sediments were conducted. Total iron (T-Fe) concentration in the river ranged from 3 to 10 mg/L, and the concentration increased with the river flowing down, whereas dissolved iron (D-Fe) concentrations tended to decrease. The concentrations of total phosphorus (T-P) and phosphate phosphorus (PO4-P) also tended to decrease as the river flowing down. From the analysis of mass balance, the study watershed was considered to be a substantial iron source, having 307 and 206 kg/ha of annual outflow loads. In the sediment of the river, T-P ranged from 834 to 2440 microg/g, and most of the inorganic compound was Fe-P. In addition, The Bray No.2 phosphorus (441-1030 microg/g) was much higher than in paddy soils. Therefore, the sediment contained a large amount of phosphorus and was fertile. From the results of laboratory-based experiments, it can be said that iron compounds in the river were sufficient for the precipitation of phosphorus. Since the accumulated sediment in the river was conventionally dredged up and transported to adjacent paddy fields, it was considered to be that this operation played a significant role in phosphorus resource recycling.