Phosphorus Removal Bed Conservation

Phosphorus removal bed at the Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network. Phosphorus removal beds are ideally placed in sites with known excess dissolved phosphorus issues. Fields that have higher soil test phosphorus readings have an increased likelihood to leak that phosphorus into downstream bodies of water. This bed acts like a bathtub, where water enters the bottom of the structure and is forced to rise through the phosphorus sorption material (steel slag) until it reaches a series of PVC pipes and is allowed to flow into the adjacent ditch. This steel slag binds the phosphorus and removes it from the water.