Phosphorus is essential for the growth of plants and soil microbes when present in the right amounts. However, too much phosphorus can lead to problems with water quality, such as eutrophication, which is the excessive growth of algae. If you have a water feature on your property, you know how important phosphate levels are, and how difficult they can be to balance.
Phosphates are compound forms of phosphorus, a vital element that supplies healthy nutrients to aquatic plants, fish, and other forms of life. While it’s absolutely essential to upholding the ecosystems in lakes and ponds, phosphorus levels of even the slightest imbalance will throw things out of order and cause phosphate pollution.
High levels of phosphorus have significant harmful effects that can put water quality in serious trouble. For ponds and lakes, it’s best to keep phosphate levels below 0.05 mg/L (also sometimes written as ppm, or parts per million) to prevent algae growth. By maintaining low phosphate levels, algae growth can be effectively controlled, and phosphate pollution can be avoided.
What Causes Phosphate Pollution?
Human activities, such as runoff from fertilized farms or golf courses and discharge from wastewater plants, have caused phosphate pollution over the years.
When water has too much phosphorus, it can lead to toxic cyanobacteria blooms. This imbalance causes a process called eutrophication, where water bodies accumulate nutrients and age more rapidly. Excess phosphorus can enter lakes and ponds through runoff, sewage, and decomposing organic matter.
Phosphates can pool in your lake, pond, or other body of water as a result of man-made and naturally occurring incidents. Here are the top factors that lead to phosphate pollution:
- Erosion: Erosion is a primary cause of phosphate production. Over time, rainfall erodes rocks and similar compositions found in soil. As rain continues to fall and release sediments from erosion, it also causes phosphate runoff into adjacent waters.
- Manure: Cow and other animal manure can leak nutrients, like phosphorus, into soil. Precipitation can carry phosphate nutrients from the original location down to the nearest body of water.
- Fertilizer: Farms and croplands near bodies of water are often a significant risk factor. During a rainstorm, runoff can carry phosphates found in farming soil and drain them into the nearest lake or pond.
- Sewage: Human waste carries high levels of phosphates. When treatment plants and other industrial areas produce or try to treat waste, the remaining nutrients may easily leach into surrounding soil and, eventually, water.
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The Effects of Phosphate Pollution
When too much phosphorus enters the environment, often due to human activities, it can lead to pollution of both air and water.
Over the past few decades, nutrient pollution has affected many streams, rivers, lakes, bays, and coastal waters, causing serious environmental and human health issues and impacting the economy. High phosphorus levels can lead to explosive growth of plants and algae, resulting in low dissolved oxygen concentrations, which can cause fish kills and damage other aquatic life. One of the best ways to control phosphorus levels is with professional algae control from professionals.
These are the most common and most dangerous effects of high phosphate levels in water:
- Algal Bloom Blankets: When phosphorus and nitrogen meet in freshwater ecosystems, algal blooms are likely to form. Once algae takes over your water, sunlight will have a harder time reaching the surface and non-invasive plant growth will eventually come to a complete stop.
- Water Nutrient Increase: Too many nutrients might not seem harmful, but an excess of anything can cause trouble in your lake or pond. As water nutrients increase to levels safe for weeds and other harmful plants, these plants will overpower other species.
- Damaged Water Quality: Oxygen levels take a dive as a result of too much phosphorus. In bodies of water with an incredibly dense population of plants, or eutrophic water, animals and even other plants suffer from the low supply of oxygen.
Prevent Pollution in Your Lake or Pond
If you struggle to prevent phosphorus from accumulating in your lake or pond, you can install a management system to protect your body of water when it does. At Sorko Services, we’ll keep your water safe with regular testing, algal removal services, and non-toxic treatments. By monitoring your water levels and nutrient density, we can track phosphate levels and come up with strategies to keep them from rising.
Call us today to have your lake, pond, or other body of water professionally tested for phosphates.