Effects of water flow on the uptake of phosphorus by sediments: An experime- ntal investigation

This paper investigates the effect of the water flow on the phosphorus uptake by sediments. Five experiments with different overlying flow velocities are carried out in an annular flume. The results show that the water flow significantly affects the phosphorus uptake by sediments. The sediment motion could be stationary, scroll, scroll or saltation, saltation and suspension under different flow conditions. The minimum amount of the phosphorus uptake is observed where the sediment motion is stationary. The uptake capacity of phosphorus increases with the increase of the flow velocity. However, there is no apparent difference in the uptake capacity of phosphorus between the saltated and suspended sediments. The uptake rate of phosphorus by sediments in the laboratory flume experiments is much lower than the adsorption rate in the batch experiments. There is a linear relationship between the amount of phosphorus uptake by sediments and the square root of time.