Most of the phosphorus that is used to grow Minnesota's vast corn and soybean fields finds its way to the Mississippi River. Then it travels 2,000 miles, past St. Louis and New Orleans, to the Gulf of Mexico, where it not only creates a massive dead zone that kills off ocean life, but is lost forever as a useful fertilizer. University of Minnesota researchers believe they can help stop that loss. They'd like to capture the phosphorus, which is spread in manure and fertilizers, before it reaches the Mississippi, keeping it out of lakes, rivers and other waters where it creates, among other problems, massive toxic algae blooms.

https://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-looks-to-wastewater-treatment-plants-to-recover-dwindling-phosphorus-supplie/600057753/

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