Phosphorus: Polluter and Resource of the Future: Removal and Recovery from Wastewater

Phosphorus has always been both a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, it is important for all life forms and cannot be replaced by anything. On the other hand, wastewater treatment aims to increase phosphorus concentrations in wastewater in order to minimize its discharge into rivers and lakes, where eutrophication caused by high phosphorus concentrations would lead to excessive plant growth.