The purpose of our study is to develop a treatment procedure for humic substances (HS hereafter) and phosphate ion in wastewater and environmental water by percolation of the water through a constructed soil layer at the hydraulic loading of a few metres per day. In the present work, batch sorption tests were conducted for more than 80 samples of soil, sludge, mineral and organic materials in order to find good sorbents for fulvic acid (FA hereafter) and phosphate ion. The results showed that the sorption of FA was high for some charcoal, and apatite and goethite minerals. Comparatively high sorption of FA was found for some Andosols and volcanic ash soil. Significant sorption of phosphate ion, on the other hand, was found for various types of soil, sludge from water treatment plants and some waste materials. The linear isotherm was obtained for the sorption of FA to a charcoal, apatite and goethite minerals, and Andosols.

This paper describes the influence of nutrient salts eluted from the bottom of a closed water area where polluted sediment has been deposited by inflowing river water. The elution pattern was monitored at our experimental facility. Both the sediment pore water and water above the bottom were sampled using a dialyzer sampler (peeper). The pore water of the eutrophicated sediment contained a large amount of nutrient salts, and the effect of elution was confined to a limited area of the bottom surface. The nutrient concentration of the sediment pore water was closely related to both the water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration. The eluted nutrients from the sediment provided a source for phytoplankton and algae growth. This experimental data indicated that the water quality of the surface was not directly connected to the eluted nutrient salts, while it was indirectly affected by the total ecosystem, including all the organisms within an area and their environment.

Presented in this paper are the results of a series of column experiments and a pilot scale test conducted to develop the treatment system of freshwater and wastewater by their percolation through soil and the other materials at the rate of a few metres per day. Materials that had high ability to sorb fulvic acid (FA hereafter) and phosphate ion were selected based on the results of the batch sorption tests and were processed into beads before subjecting them to the column test. The results of the column experiment suggested that the reagents added to increase the strength of the beads reduced the sorption of FA, thus causing the early breakthrough of the FA injected into the column. Less effect from the bead processing was observed for the removal of phosphate ion. Pilot scale test showed that the removal of particulate fraction of phosphorus differed among the materials used. The bead processing technique that can ensure the high water permeability while maintaining the sorption capacity of the material was required for further development of the treatment system.