Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of industrial wastewater on growth and biomass production in commonly grown vegetables

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In developing countries like Pakistan, irrigation of crops with industrial and municipal wastewater is a common practice. However, the impact of wastewater irrigation on vegetables growth has rarely been studied. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of industrial wastewater on the germination and seedling growth of some commonly grown vegetables in Pakistan. Wastewater samples were collected from two different industries (marble industry and match alam factory) at Hayatabad Industrial Estate (HIE) in Peshawar, Pakistan, and their effect on different growth parameters of four vegetables including Hibiscus esculentus, Lactuca sativa, Cucumis sativus, and Cucumis melo was investigated. The obtained results revealed that wastewater from marble industry did not affect seed germination except a minor inhibition in H. esculentus. Effluents from match alam factory stimulated seed germination in C. melo and C. sativus but had no effect on seed germination in the other two vegetables. Wastewater increased root and shoot length in H. esculentus, L. sativa and C. melo, but decreased it in C. sativus. Similarly, differential effects of wastewater were observed on fresh and dry biomass of seedlings in all vegetables. It can be concluded that wastewater may have different effects on different crops, depending upon the nature of wastewater and sensitivity of a plant species to wastewater.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akbar, F., Hadi, Z., & Ullah, Z. M. A. (2007). Effect of marble industry effluent on seed germination, post germinative growth and productivity of Zea mays L. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 10, 4148–4151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almansouri, M., Kinet, J. M., & Lutts, S. (2001). Effect of salt and osmotic stresses on germination in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). Plant and Soil, 231, 243–254.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, K., Ejaz, A., Azam, M., Khan, Z. I., Ashraf, M., Al-Qurainy, F., Fardous, A., Gondal, S., Bayat, A. R. & Valeem, E. E. (2011). Lead, cadmium and chromium contents of canola irrigated with sewage water. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 43(2), 1403–1410.

  • Aslam, M. M., Baig, M. A., Hassan, I., Qazi, I. A., Malik, M., & Saeed, H. (2004). Textile waste water characterization and reduction of its COD and BOD by oxidation. Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 3, 804–811.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azizullah, A., Khattak, M. N. K., Richter, P., & Häder, D.-P. (2011). Water pollution in Pakistan and its impact on public health—a review. Environment International, 37, 479–497.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Azizullah, A., Richter, P., & Häder, D.-P. (2012). Sensitivity of various parameters in Euglena gracilis to short-term exposure to industrial wastewaters. Journal of Applied Phycology, 24, 187–200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Azizullah, A., Jamil, M., Richter, P., & Häder, D.-P. (2014). Fast bioassessment of wastewater and surface water quality using freshwater flagellate Euglena gracilis—a case study from Pakistan. Journal of Applied Phycology, 26, 421–431.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baroni, L., Cenci, L., Tettamanti, M., & Berati, M. (2007). Evaluating the environmental impact of various dietary patterns combined with different food production systems. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 61, 279–286.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bibi, A., Sadaqat, H. A., Tahir, M. H. N., & Akram, H. M. (2012). Screening of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor var Moench) for drought tolerance at seedling stage in polyethylene glycol. The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 22, 671–678.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briscoe, J., & Qamar, U. (2006). Pakistan’s water economy: running dry. World Bank document: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhanam, S. (2009). Effect of dairy effluent on seed germination, seedling growth and biochemical parameters in Paddy. Botany Research International, 2, 61–63.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ensink, J. H. J., Vander, H. W., Matsuno, Y., Munir, S., & Aslam, M. R. (2002). Use of untreated wastewater in peri-urban agriculture in Pakistan: risks and opportunities. IWMI Research Report No. 64. Colombo: International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ensink, J. H. J., Mahmood, T., Vander, H. W., Raschid-Sally, L., & Amerasinghe, F. P. (2004). A nation-wide assessment of waste water use in Pakistan: an obscure activity or a vitally important one? Water Policy, 6, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fakayode, S. O. (2005). Impact assessment of industrial effluent on water quality of the receiving Alaro River in Ibadan, Nigeria. African Journal of Environmental Assessment and Management, 10, 1–13.

  • Gvozdenac, S., & Inđić, D. (2012). International Conference on BioScience: biotechnology and biodiversity—step in the future. The Forth Joint UNS-PSU Conference (pp. 331–341).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heikens, A. (2006). Arsenic contamination of irrigation water, soil and crops in Bangladesh: risk implications for sustainable agriculture and food safety in Asia. RAP Publication (FAO)

  • Hussain, F., Malik, S. A., Athar, M., Bashir, N., Younis, U., Hassan, M. U., & Mahmood, S. (2010). Effect of tannery effluents on seed germination and growth of two sunflower cultivars. African Journal of Biotechnology, 9, 5113–5120.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Islam, M. O., Khan, H. R., Das, A. K., Akhtar, M. S., Oki, Y., & Adochi, T. (2006). Impacts of industrial effluents on plant growth and soil properties. Soil and Environment, 25, 113–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaydan, D., & Yagmur, M. (2008). Germination, seedling growth and relative water content of shoot in different seed sizes of triticale under osmotic stress of water and NaCl. African Journal of Biotechnology, 7, 2862–2868.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, S., Khan, A. M., & Khan, M. N. (2002). Investigation of pollutants load in wastewater of Hayatabad industrial estate, Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Applied Sciences, 2, 457–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, S., Haq, F., & Saeed, K. (2012). Pollution load in industrial effluent and ground water due to marble industries in District Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, 3(5), 366–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kocak, S., Tokusoglu, O., & Aycan, S. (2005). Some heavy metal and trace essential element detection in canned vegetable foodstuffs by differential pulse polarography (DPP). Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 4, 871–878.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Dorjderem, A., Fu, J., Lei, X., & Macer, D. (2011). Water Ethics and Water Resource Management. Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (ECCAP) Project Working Group 14 Report. UNESCO

  • Luo, X., Yu, S., Zhu, Y., & Li, X. (2012). Trace metal contamination in urban soils of China. Science of the Total Environment, 441–442, 17–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulk, S., Azizullah, A., Korai, A. L., & Khattak, M. N. K. (2015). Impact of marble industry effluents on water and sediment quality of Barandu River in Buner District, Pakistan. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187, 8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murtaza, G., & Zia, M. H. (2012). Wastewater production, treatment and use in Pakistan. In Second Regional Workshop of the Project ‘Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture’ (pp. 16–18).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagada, G. K., Diwan, A. M., & Ghole, V. S. (2006). Seed germination bioassays to assess toxicity of molasses fermentation based bulk drug industry effluent. Eur J Environ Agri Food Chem, 5, 1598–1603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagajyothi, P. C., Dinakar, N., Suresh, S., Udaykiran, Y., Suresh, C., & Damodharam, T. (2009). Effect of industrial effluent on the morphological parameters and chlorophyll content of green gram (Phaseolus aureus Roxb). Journal of Environmental Biology, 30(3), 385–388.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nasrullah, Naz, R., Bibi, H., Iqbal, M., & Durrani, M. I. (2006). Inadequately treated effluent discharged from several types of industrial units. Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, 1(3), 18–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nath, K., Singh, D., Shyam, S., & Sharma, Y. K. (2009). Phytotoxic effects of chromium and tannery effluent on growth and metabolism of Phaseolus mungo Roxb. Journal of Environmental Biology, 30, 227–234.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nawaz, S., Ali, S. M., & Yasmin, A. (2006). Effect of industrial effluents on seed germination and early growth of Cicer arientum. Journal of Biological Sciences, 6, 49–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niroula, B. (2003). Comparative effects of industrial effluents and submetropolitan sewage of Biratnagar on germination and seedling growth of rice and black gram. Our Nature, 1, 10–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orhue, E. R., Osaigbovo, A. U., & Vwioko, D. E. (2005). Growth of maize (Zea mays L.) and changes in some chemical properties of an ultisol amended with brewery effluent. African Journal of Biotechnology, 4, 973–978.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey, S., Tyagi, P., & Gupta, A. (2007). Physicochemical analysis and effect of distillery effluent on seed germination of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and lady’s finger (Abelomoschus esculentus). ARPN Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, 2, 35–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pathak, H., Joshi, H. C., Chaudhary, A., Chaudhary, R., Kalra, N., & Dwivedi, M. K. (1999). Distillery effluent as soil amendment for wheat and rice. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 113, 133–140.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramana, S., Biswas, A. K., Singh, A. B., & Yadava, R. B. R. (2001). Relative efficacy of different distillery effluents on growth, nitrogen fixation and yield of groundnut. Bioresource Technology, 81, 117–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramana, S., Biswas, A. K., Kundu, S., Saha, J. K., & Yadava, R. B. (2002). Effect of distillery effluent on seed germination in some vegetable crops. Bioresource Technology, 82, 273–275.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, P. K., Kumar, V., & Singh, S. (2011). Management of tannery waste: it use as planting medium for chrysanthemum plants. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4, 560–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tariq, M., Ali, M. & Shah, Z. (2006). Characteristics of industrial effluents and their possible impacts on quality of underground water. Soil and Environment, 25(1), 64–69.

  • Ullah, H., Khan, I., & Ullah, I. (2012). Impact of sewage contaminated water on soil, vegetables and underground water of peri-urban Peshawar, Pakistan. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 84, 6411–6421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uzair, M., Ahmed, M., & Nazim, K. (2009). Effects of industrial waste on seed bank and growth of wild plants in Dhabeji area, Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 41(4), 1659–1665.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wins, J. A., & Murugan, M. (2010). Effect of textile mill effluent on growth and germination of black gram Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper. International Journal of Pharma and Biosciences, 1, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yadav, R. K., Goyal, B., Sharma, R. K., Dubey, S. K., & Minhas, P. S. (2002). Post irrigation impact of domestic sewage effluent on composition of soils, crops and ground water—a case study. Environment International, 28, 481–486.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge all the staff members at the Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) for their support. We are thankful to KUST for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST), 26000, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Syeda Uzma, Azizullah Azizullah, Roqaia Bibi, Farhat Nabeela & Uzair Muhammad

  2. Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST), 26000, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Imran Ali & Zia Ur Rehman

  3. Department Biology, Emeritus of Friedrich-Alexander Universität, 91096, Möhrendorf, Germany

    Donat-Peter Häder

Authors
  1. Syeda Uzma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Azizullah Azizullah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roqaia Bibi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Farhat Nabeela
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Uzair Muhammad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Imran Ali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Zia Ur Rehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Donat-Peter Häder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Azizullah Azizullah.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Uzma, S., Azizullah, A., Bibi, R. et al. Effects of industrial wastewater on growth and biomass production in commonly grown vegetables. Environ Monit Assess 188, 328 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5338-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5338-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation