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- Title
Influence of long-term irrigation with treated papermaking wastewater on soil ecosystem of a full-scale managed reed wetland.
- Authors
Chen, Aihui; Liang, Huixing; Chen, Tianming; Yang, Wenjun; Ding, Cheng
- Abstract
Purpose: A large-scale managed reed wetland in Yancheng Biosphere Reserve of China has been irrigated by treated papermaking wastewater (TPW) for approximately 8 to 12 years. This report details the risk evaluation of long-term TPW irrigation on the soil and its microbial viability, providing important perspective on the suitability of TPW reuse for irrigation. Materials and methods: An extensive field survey was employed for assessing the impacts of long-term TPW irrigation of reed fields (F1 to F6), as compared to river water irrigated field, on soil physicochemical properties, accumulation of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Pb), soil enzyme activities (i.e., urease, invertase, catalase, and polyphenol oxidase), and soil microbial community metabolic profiles. Results and discussion: The results revealed that long-term TPW reuse for irrigation resulted in a slight increase of pH value, while a remarkable increase was identified regarding to soil organic carbon, as expected from the organic carbon content of the wastewater, but was not proportional to the time of irrigation. TPW irrigation caused a remarkable increase in soil electrical conductivity and resulted in soil salinization, having strong correlation with the duration of irrigation. Soil salinization increase in irrigated area was mainly due to the high sodium content of the wastewater applied for irrigation. Furthermore, soil enzymes displayed significantly increased activities (except for catalase) in the irrigated fields, while the microbial ability of utilizing carbon source was enhanced. The diversity of microbial communities was boomed due to the increase of soil organic matter, as evidenced by the calculated diversity indices. However, a remarkable increase of heavy metals was also identified regarding Cd and Pb concentrations, which may pose potential risks to human health. Conclusions: The input of excessive pollutants and nutrients will disrupt the equilibrium mechanism of the wetland ecosystem. Although long-term TPW irrigation may increase the soil fertility and microbial activity, heavy metals (i.e., Cd and Pb) in wastewater can be accumulated in the soil. Furthermore, alkaline TPW caused an increase in soil salinity. Therefore, more cautions should be exercised in the reuse of TPW for irrigation.
- Subjects
SEWAGE irrigation; SOIL salinization; MICROBIAL viability counts
- Publication
Journal of Soils & Sediments: Protection, Risk Assessment, & Remediation, 2016, Vol 16, Issue 4, p1352
- ISSN
1439-0108
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11368-015-1161-z