The phosphorus (P) pollution and eutrophication in the aquatic environment are common and cause immensely adverse environmental health problems. In order to control the P pollution, the present study attempted to assess the phosphate-P removal capacity (PRC) of laterite soil (LS) and its application potentials in practical field. The physico-chemical characteristics of LS were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy coupled energy dispersive techniques, BET study and zeta potential. The PRC of LS was characterized by optimizing the sorption influencing parameters – contact time, solution pH, dosage of LS and concentration of phosphate-P as well as analyzing sorption isotherm and kinetics; and application potential of LS was evaluated by analyzing PRC in natural wastewater and by examining plant (Chick pea; Cicer arietinum) growth promoting properties of spent LS as phosphate fertilizer. The chemical characteristics revealed that LS is prevalently constituted by oxygen (48.52%), silicon (39.36%) and iron (10.57%) and aluminium (1.55%) and showed higher pore volume (1.678 cc/g), surface area (20.29 m²/g), particle density (2.25 g/cm³) and bulk density (1.94 g/cm³). LS demonstrated that contact time 390 min, pH 2.5, dosage 2.4 g/L and initial concentration 2 mg/L were optimum for highest phosphate-P sorption. Sorption data was well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second order kinetic model. The phosphate-P sorption mechanism of LS is supposed to be governed by high porosity, surface area and specific chemical properties. LS showed excellent phosphate-P sorption (384.61 mg/g) and potential wastewater treatment properties. Phosphorous loaded spent LS also showed higher growth of Cicer arietinum (length of shoot, 38.21% and leaf number, 52.63%) than control. Therefore, the LS could ecofriendly be used as a low-cost sorbent for treating the polluted water and spent LS might be employed as a potentially fertile soil bed in yielding high amount of crop.

水生环境中的磷（P）污染和富营养化很常见，并且会严重危害环境健康。为了控制磷的污染，本研究试图评估红土土壤（LS）的磷磷去除能力（PRC）及其在实际应用中的应用潜力。使用扫描电子显微镜耦合能量分散技术，BET研究和zeta电位分析了LS的理化特性。LS的PRC的特征是优化吸附影响参数-接触时间，溶液的pH值，LS的剂量和磷酸盐-P的浓度，以及分析吸附等温线和动力学。通过分析天然废水中的PRC并通过检查植物（鹰嘴豆;枯萎的LS作为磷肥促进了Cicer arietinum的生长。化学特性表明，LS主要由氧（48.52％），硅（39.36％）和铁（10.57％）和铝（1.55％）组成，并具有较高的孔体积（1.678 cc / g），表面积（20.29 m）² / g），颗粒密度（2.25 g / cm ³）和堆积密度（1.94 g / cm ³）。LS证明，接触时间390分钟，pH 2.5，剂量2.4 g / L和初始浓度2 mg / L对于最高的磷酸盐P吸附是最佳的。Langmuir等温线模型和伪二阶动力学模型很好地拟合了吸附数据。LS的磷酸盐-P吸附机理被认为是由高孔隙率，表面积和特定化学性质决定的。LS表现出出色的磷酸盐-P吸附（384.61 mg / g）和潜在的废水处理性能。磷负载的枯萎LS也表现出比对照更高的Aceric arietinum生长（枝长38.21％和叶数52.63％）。 因此，LS可以作为一种环保的低成本吸附剂用于处理污水，而用过的LS则可以用作潜在的肥沃土壤床，从而获得高产量的农作物。