The effects of red soil in removing phosphorus from water column and reducing phosphorus release from sediment in Lake Taihu

A natural red soil and a lanthanum-modified soil (LMS) were tested to compare their phosphorus (P) adsorption capacities and their effectiveness in removing P from the water column and reducing P release from sediment. The equilibrium of P adsorption demonstrated that the maximum P adsorption for the soil was 1.29 and 2.22 mg g⁻¹ at pH 8.5 and 5.5, respectively, and for the LMS these were increased by 45.6 and 77.6% at pH 8.5 and 5.5, respectively, indicating that the soil was effective in P adsorption and the doping of lanthanum could substantially increase P adsorption. The sediment–water column incubation showed that, due to the P adsorption of the soil and LMS, the total P in the water column decreased by 58.5, 60.6, 68.2 and 77.2% for 180 g m⁻² soil, 900 g m⁻² soil, 180 g m⁻² LMS and 900 g m⁻² LMS treated systems, respectively, in a short time (6 h), and the capping layer substantially reduced the P release from sediment during column incubation, indicating that the soils were effective in reducing internal P load. However, considering the cost of LMS, the natural soil was suggested to be a cost-effective material to control internal P load.