Fertilizer potential of phosphorus recovered from wastewater treatments

Large quantities of phosphate present in wastewater is one of the main causes of eutrophication that negatively affect natural water bodies, both fresh water and marine. It is desirable that water treatment facilities remove phosphorus from the wastewater before it is returned to the environment. In most countries, total removal or at least a significant reduction of phosphorus is obligatory, if not always fulfilled. This mini-review summarizes the options of recovering phosphorus from wastewater as struvite (ammonium-magnesium-phosphate) and hydroxyapatite formation and other feasible options, using the now largely regarded contaminant, phosphorus in wastewater, as a raw material for the fertilizer industry. The future use of phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, applied together with the recovered phosphorus, is proposed.