Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Brye, Kristofor

Committee Member

Miller, David

Second Committee Member

Wood, Lisa

Abstract

Struvite recovery from wastewater streams may provide an alternative to traditional fertilizer-phosphorus (P) sources, while also providing the benefit of reducing nitrogen and P loads in wastewater effluent and reducing effects of eutrophication in surface waters. Limited research has been conducted to assess the effects of struvite fertilization on concentrations of soil micronutrients and potassium (K) compared to other traditional fertilizer-P sources in historically agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of fertilizer-P source (i.e., synthetically produced electrochemically precipitated struvite [ECST], chemically precipitated struvite [CPST], monoammonium phosphate [MAP], diammonium phosphate [DAP], triple superphosphate [TSP], rock phosphate [RP], and an unamended control [UC]) on water-soluble (WS) and Mehlich-3 (M3)-extractable soil nutrients (i.e., K, S, Na, Mn, Zn, Cu, and B) periodically over a 9-month period (i.e., 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9 months) in multiple soil textures (i.e., loam, silty clay loam, and silt loam). All WS and M3 nutrients were affected by a combination of soil, fertilizer treatment and/or sampling time. The increase in M3-Na concentrations from the initial in the silty clay loam and both silt loams were similar and less than in the loam, which increased the most from the initial (8.15 mg kg-1). Both WS- and M3-S concentrations increased from the initial for all fertilizer treatments, but the increase was greatest with DAP (26.3 mg kg-1 and 23.4 mg kg-1, respectively), which differed from MAP and TSP that had increases that were intermediate and were greater than for ECST, CPST, and the UC. Mehlich-3-Na concentrations increased from the initial after 0.5 months before decreasing from the initial after 1 month and steadily increasing until 9 months, at which point M3-Na concentrations had increased the most from the initial (12.26 mg kg-1). Changes in WS and M3 4 nutrients were often similar among ECST, CPST, MAP, DAP, TSP, and RP, supporting the potential for struvite to be an effective alternative fertilizer-P source.

Keywords

Struvite recovery; phosphorus fertilizers; soil incubation; soil nutrients

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