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Influence of long-term irrigation with treated papermaking wastewater on soil ecosystem of a full-scale managed reed wetland

  • Soil Pollution and Remediation
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Cao Lili for her invaluable contribution to this analysis, to Yan Jinlong for his comments, and to Cui Liqiang and Jin Jianxiang for their assistance in collecting soil samples. This work was financially funded by the National Natural Science foundation of China (21277115) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2014M551456).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, 9 Yingbin Road, 224051, Yancheng, China

    Aihui Chen, Huixing Liang, Tianming Chen & Cheng Ding

  2. School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, 212013, Zhenjiang, China

    Wenjun Yang

Authors
  1. Aihui Chen
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  2. Huixing Liang
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  3. Tianming Chen
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  4. Wenjun Yang
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  5. Cheng Ding
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Correspondence to Cheng Ding.

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Responsible editor: Jaume Bech

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Chen, A., Liang, H., Chen, T. et al. Influence of long-term irrigation with treated papermaking wastewater on soil ecosystem of a full-scale managed reed wetland. J Soils Sediments 16, 1352–1359 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1161-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1161-z

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