What is Phoslock?
Phoslock is a natural product, produced from modified bentonite clay and developed by the Land and Water Division of Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) to significantly reduce the amount of Filterable Reactive Phosphorus (FRP) present in the water column and in the sediment pore water of a water body. FRP is an important growth limiting factor for blue green algae and other algae. How does Phoslock work? When Phoslock is applied to a water body as a slurry, it moves down through the water column, up to 95% of the FRP is rapidly removed and adsorbed onto the surface, forming an insoluble complex within the clay structure. As the Phoslock settles on the sediment-water interface it forms a ~1 – 3 mm layer. This layer of Phoslock is capable of adsorbing the FRP from the sediment layer on its available binding sites. Once the FRP is bound to Phoslock, it is no longer bioavailabile for use by algae for assimilation and growth. The lack of nutrien
