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Phosphorus |
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Phosphorus is an essential
nutrient for the plants and animals that make up the aquatic food web. Since phosphorus is a nutrient in short supply in the typically clay-rich
soils of Southcentral Phosphorus has a complicated
story and exists in various forms; it may exist in an inorganic or organic form
and may be in a dissolved or particulate phase. As you might expect, there are various types of tests for measuring the
different forms in which phosphorus can exist. We measure total orthophosphate using the EPA-approved ascorbic acid
method, often used in volunteer water quality monitoring programs for screening
purposes. We report our results here
as mg/L phosphorus, although this value is not derived from a total phosphate
value but rather from our measurement of total orthophosphate. We converted our result to mg/L phosphorus (as reported here) in order to
better relate our results to EPA’s recommendation which states that total
phosphate should not exceed 0.05 mg/L (as phosphorus) in a stream at a point
where it enters a lake or reservoir and should not exceed 0.1 mg/L in streams
that do not discharge directly into lakes or reservoirs.
(Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/BACT/info/index.html, http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/stream/)
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