Residues from Water Precipitation via Ferric Hydroxide Threaten Soil Fertility

Tomáš Brabenec, Anna Maroušková, Tomáš Zoubek and Martin Filip
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Tomáš Brabenec: Department of Corporate Finance, Prague University of Economics and Business, W. Churchill Sq. 1938/4, 130 67 Prague, Czech Republic
Anna Maroušková: Faculty of Technology, Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice, Okružní 517/10, 370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Tomáš Zoubek: Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Studentská 1668, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Martin Filip: Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Studentská 1668, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: From the moment it was first indicated that use of aluminum chloride during purification of drinking water might be one of the triggers of Alzheimer’s disease, it took only a few years to almost abandon this practice worldwide. Now, two years after the initial evidence was presented that the cheapest possible replacement for aluminum chloride (ferric hydroxide, better known as ferrous sludge) significantly threatens soil fertility, there is almost no action. A robust case study was conducted among European drinking water treatment plants. First, it is reported that some samples of ferrous sludge can reduce phosphorus availability by more than 70%. This creates a precondition for a significant reduction in fertility over a decade. Because the legislation usually responds to similar findings with great delay, the extent to which managers of drinking water treatment plants are willing to change process settings by themselves has also been assessed. The findings obtained allow us to expect that a long continuation of this hazardous practice can be expected, since managers of drinking water treatment plants show little willingness to switch from the ongoing questionable technology (harmful to nutrient cycles in soil) to environmentally favorable (though slightly more costly) solutions.

Keywords: food availability; water ethics; phosphorus; bioeconomy; soil fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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