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Verona New Jersey to go Phosphate-Free?
Phosphates enter waterways from human and animal waste, phosphorus rich bedrock, laundry, cleaning, industrial effluents, and fertilizer runoff. These phosphates become detrimental when they over fertilize aquatic plants and cause stepped up eutrophication. If too much phosphate is present in the water the algae and weeds will grow rapidly, may choke the waterway, and use up large amounts of precious oxygen (in the absence of photosynthesis and as the algae and plants die and are consumed by aerobic bacteria.) The result may be the death of many fish and aquatic organisms.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has asked towns along the Passaic River and its tributaries to keep those waterways clean by encouraging residents to use only phosphate-free lawn care products.
When phosphates and nitrates – present in many fertilizers – run off the lawns and into the Passaic River, a key watershed for Northern New Jersey; not only are the phosphates accelerating weed growth, it also affects the residents’ drinking water.
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