Estimating phosphorus concentrations following alum treatment using apparent settling velocity

he apparent settling velocity (Vs) is a term used in empirical, steady-state, mass-balance lake models to represent the net phosphorus flux from the water column. The Vollenweider (1969) mixed-reactor lake model was rearranged and used to calculate Vs values for total phosphorus (TP) for three lakes treated with alum to reduce the internal flux of P to the water column (Delavan Lake, Wisconsin; Lake Morey, Vermont; and West Twin Lake, Ohio). An analysis of Vs values was conducted using data from these three lakes for both the pre- and post-alum treated conditions. Analysis of Vs values for both the pre- and post-alum conditions in Lake Morey and West Twin Lake resulted in a post-treatment mean Vs value of 7 ± 2.0 m·yr⁻¹. The effect of the alum treatment, although short-lived in Delavan Lake, resulted in a mean post-treatment Vs value of 3.4 ± 0.3 m·yr⁻¹. The consistency in the post-treatment Vs values in Lake Morey and West Twin Lake is used to demonstrate a predictive analysis method for water column TP concentrations in lakes following a successful treatment of the anoxic sediment area with alum. Additional pre- and post-alum in-lake and watershed loading data are needed to advance this concept into a management model.