HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (27) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tarchitzky, J. Articles by Keren, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Tarchitzky, J. Articles by Keren, R. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Tarchitzky, J. Articles by Keren, R.

Wastewater Effects on Montmorillonite Suspensions and Hydraulic Properties of Sandy Soils

Field Service, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture, P.O. Box 7054, Tel-Aviv 61070, Israel

Y. Golobati and Y. Chen^*

Dep. of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Science, The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel

R. Keren

Institute of Soils and Water, ARO, The Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

^* Corresponding author (yonachen{at}agri.huji.ac.il).

ABSTRACT

Recycled wastewater effluent is an important source of irrigation water in arid and semiarid regions. In these regions, however, irrigation water quality is one of the main factors limiting plant growth. Wastewater effluents generally contain high concentrations of suspended and dissolved solids, both organic and inorganic. Inorganic dissolved solids are only minimally removed from the effluent during conventional sewage treatment (secondary or tertiary). As a result, most of the salts added during domestic and industrial usage remain in the irrigation water and may eventually reach the soil. A number of researchers have reported reduced hydraulic conductivity for soils to which treated wastewater has been applied. In this research, the influence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) contained in reclaimed wastewater effluents (mainly humic substances) on the flocculation of montmorillonite and on the hydraulic properties of soils was studied. Flocculation values (FVs) for Na-montmorillonite increased with increasing concentrations of DOM at all pH levels analyzed (5.5, 7.0, and 8.5). Maximum FV levels were exhibited for Na-montmorillonite at the highest DOM concentrations. The effect of DOM on FV can be explained by the mechanisms of edge-charge reversal and mutual flocculation. The hydraulic conductivity (HC) of a sandy soil was determined in the laboratory by leaching columns with an electrolyte solution chemically similar to that of the wastewater effluent (but without DOM). In columns treated with wastewater effluent, the HC exhibited a sharp decrease to only 20% of its initial value. The adverse effect of DOM on HC was evident for this soil despite a relatively low exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). The reduction in HC is likely to be the result of decreased soil pore-size, which reflects two processes: (i) retention of part of the DOM during water percolation; and (ii) a change in pore-size distribution due to swelling and dispersion of clay particles. The latter may result from a higher percentage of adsorbed sodium combined with the presence of humic substances from the wastewater effluent.

Received for publication July 28, 1997.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Drori, B. Lam, A. Simpson, Z. Aizenshtat, and B. Chefetz The Role of Lipids on Sorption Characteristics of Freshwater- and Wastewater-Irrigated Soils J. Environ. Qual., October 27, 2006; 35(6): 2154 - 2161. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Drori, Z. Aizenshtat, and B. Chefetz Sorption-Desorption Behavior of Atrazine in Soils Irrigated with Reclaimed Wastewater Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., September 29, 2005; 69(6): 1703 - 1710. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Wallach, O. Ben-Arie, and E. R. Graber Soil Water Repellency Induced By Long-Term Irrigation with Treated Sewage Effluent J. Environ. Qual., September 8, 2005; 34(5): 1910 - 1920. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Lado, M. Ben-Hur, and S. Assouline Effects of Effluent Irrigation on Seal Formation, Infiltration, and Soil Loss during Rainfall Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., August 4, 2005; 69(5): 1432 - 1439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Ilani, E. Schulz, and B. Chefetz Interactions of Organic Compounds with Wastewater Dissolved Organic Matter: Role of Hydrophobic Fractions J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2005; 34(2): 552 - 562. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Lu, L. Wu, and J. Gan Determination of Polyacrylamide in Soil Waters by Size Exclusion Chromatography J. Environ. Qual., September 1, 2003; 32(5): 1922 - 1926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Agassi, J. Tarchitzky, R. Keren, Y. Chen, D. Goldstein, and E. Fizik Effects of Prolonged Irrigation with Treated Municipal Effluent on Runoff Rate J. Environ. Qual., May 1, 2003; 32(3): 1053 - 1057. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Tarchitzky and Y. Chen Rheology of Sodium-montmorillonite suspensions: Effects of humic substances and pH Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., March 1, 2002; 66(2): 406 - 412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.I. Mamedov, I. Shainberg, and G.J. Levy Irrigation with Effluents: Effects of Prewetting Rate and Clay Content on Runoff and Soil Loss J. Environ. Qual., November 1, 2001; 30(6): 2149 - 2156. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.I. Mamedov, I. Shainberg, and G.J. Levy Irrigation with Effluent Water: Effects of Rainfall Energy on Soil Infiltration Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., March 1, 2000; 64(2): 732 - 737. [Abstract] [Full Text]