Phosphate in Groundwater and Surface Water. A Rapid and Reliable Determination Method using the Photometric Spectroquant® Test

originally published in Supelco®'s Analytix Reporter Journal Issue 2 2018 by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
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Phosphorus is an essential element for organisms and plants.¹ In natural, uncontaminated waters, it occurs as organically bound phosphate, condensed phosphates or as orthophosphate - often referred to by its chemical formula PO4-P. The small quantity of phosphorus present in natural waters does not promote the growth of plants. However, a rise in the concentration of phosphorus results in the proliferation of algae, which leads to the eutrophication of the water body.^{2, 3}

In the mid-20th century, the anthropogenic contamination of water bodies with phosphate has resulted in widespread eutrophication via fertilizers, wastewater, and washing detergents, among other things. Measures were taken to reduce phosphate concentrations through discontinuation of the use of phosphates in detergents and the precipitation of phosphates in wastewater treatment plants, which brought about a reduction in the phosphate environmental burden of approximately 75%.^{2, 4}

A prime example is the case of Lake Constance (Bodensee, Germany). At the end of the 1970s, the concentration of PO4-P in the lake was 84 μg/L, whereas today this major water body exhibits PO4-P levels of just 5-6 μg/L.^{5, 6}

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