Eutrophication control : nutrient inactivation by chemical precipitation at Horseshoe Lake, Wisconsin

Author

Peterson, James Oliver, 1937-

Date

• 1973

Publisher

Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Summary

• "An Inland Lake Renewal and Management Demonstration Project report."
• Numerous methods have been suggested for retarding or reversing lake eutrophication, a process that occurs under natural conditions but is sharply accelerated by activities of man. Nutrient inactivation by chemical means is one method that has been proposed. The method reported here seeks to limit nuisance algal production resulting from lake fertilization by the use of alum (aluminum sulfate) to remove phosphorus, one critical element for plant nutrition. The method represents an extrapolation of advanced waste treatment technology to a natural lake setting where phosphorus is removed by precipitation, sorption, and physical entrapment and sedimentation in a flocculant aluminum hydroxide precipitate. Prior to the effort by the Inland Lake Demonstration Project, this method had never been tried before in the United States on an entire lake.