The presence of
phosphates in water is an important detail in
water quality.
Phosphorus is
essential for life. It is needed for plant growth and metabolic reactions of plants and
animals.
Because
algae only require small amounts of phosphorus to live, excess phosphorus causes extensive algal growth called '
blooms' which are symptoms of
eutrophication.
Eutrophication is the
human-caused enrichment of
water nutrients, usually phosphorus. This comes from
run-offs from
pesticides from
agriculture fields.
Intolerant species cannot survive eutrophication and are replaced by more
tolerant species.