Combating cyanobacterial proliferation by avoiding or treating inflows with high P load—experiences from eight case studies

Abstract

Increased external nutrient loads of anthropogenic origin, especially those of phosphorus (P), were one of the major causes of eutrophication during the first half of the twentieth century in Europe. They led to deterioration of lake ecosystems, particularly including noxious blooms of (potentially toxic) cyanobacteria. From the 1970–1980s, strategies to decrease the phosphorus loads from sewage were increasingly implemented, among them are the ban of phosphates in detergents, the expansion of sewer systems and improvement in wastewater treatment to remove nutrients. Case studies of eight lakes, whose response to point source reduction of phosphorus was observed over decades, show that a pronounced reduction of the phosphorus load from point sources can be achieved either by the diversion of inflows carrying high loads, by upgraded sewage treatment, or by phosphorus precipitation in the major tributary directly before its inflow into the water body. Outcomes demonstrate that in order to effectively control cyanobacterial blooms, the measures taken need to reduce in-lake concentrations of total phosphorus below 20–50 µg L−1, with this threshold varying somewhat between lakes depending in particular on hydromorphological and biological conditions. Whether and when load reduction succeeds in controlling cyanobacteria depends primarily on the load remaining after remediation and on the water residence time.