Dear Amanda,

The following paragraph covers the answer for your question:

Phosphorous in wastewater

Municipal wastewaters may contain from 5 to 20 mg/l of total phosphorous, of which 1-5 mg/l is organic and the rest in inorganic. The individual contribution tend to increase, because phosphorous is one of the main constituent of synthetic detergents. The individual phosphorous contribution varies between 0.65 and 4.80 g/inhabitant per day with an average of about 2.18 g. The usual forms of phosphorous found in aqueous solutions include:

Orthophosphates: available for biological metabolism without further breakdown

Polyphosphates: molecules with 2 or more phosphorous atoms, oxygen and in some cases hydrogen atoms combine in a complex molecule. Usually polyphosphates undergo hydrolysis and revert to the orthophosphate forms. This process is usually quite slow.

Normally secondary treatment can only remove 1-2 mg/l, so a large excess of phosphorous is discharged in the final effluent, causing eutrophication in surface waters. New legislation requires a maximum concentration of P discharges into sensitive water of 2 mg/l.

Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/phosphorous-removal.htm#ixzz3ry3vq1Vz

Hoping this will be helpful,

Rafik

Amanda Sir,

Every adult human excretes between 200 and 1000 grams of phosphorus annually. Studies of United States sewage in the late 1960s estimated mean per capita contributions of 500 grams in urine and feces, 1000 grams in synthetic detergents, and lesser variable amounts used as corrosion and scale control chemicals in water supplies.

Phosphorus appears in wastewater in many forms, as indicated in Table. Many of the phosphorus forms change in wastewater treatment due to chemical and biological actions, some intentional but many unintentional. The most dominant phosphorus species in wastewater is orthophosphate, a weak acid, and the species used in biological metabolism. Other forms of phosphorus are converted to orthophosphate and are then available to support biological growth.

Table . Phosphorus Species in Water

See attached file....

Regard 

Anand Dev Gupta

Dear Amanda Godar

You can use this material from the site "http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss551" for more details.

some information is:

Sources of Phosphorus in Wastewater

Phosphorus in the wastewater comes from toilet wastes as well as bath, laundry, and kitchen wastewater. Toilet wastes contribute 30%–70% of P in the form of nucleic acids and adenosine tri-phosphate excreted in feces. Detergents (laundry) and dish soaps (kitchen and sinks) used in the household contribute another 30%–70% of P (Wilhelm et al. 1994). Tjandraatmadja et al. (2010) studied household products (e.g., soaps, cleaners, and personal care products) and found that P was detectable in 97% of 156 products—and that much of this P can make its way into household wastewater. The U.S. EPA (2002) estimates that each person in the United States contributes 2.7 grams of total P to wastewater each day (Table 1). Of this total P, toilet wastewater contributes the highest amount (59%), followed by baths, sinks, and appliances (37%), and garbage disposals (4%).

regards