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Contrasting effects of untreated textile wastewater onto the soil available nitrogen-phosphorus and enzymatic activities in aridisol

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 188, Article number: 102 (2016) Cite this article

Abstract

Water shortage and soil qualitative degradation are significant environmental problems in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The increasing demand for water in agriculture and industry has resulted in the emergence of wastewater use as an alternative in these areas. Textile wastewater is produced in surplus amounts which poses threat to the environment as well as associated flora and fauna. A 60-day incubation study was performed to assess the effects of untreated textile wastewater at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 % dilution levels on the physico-chemical and some microbial and enzymatic properties of an aridisol soil. The addition of textile wastewater provoked a significant change in soil pH and electrical conductivity and soil dehydrogenase and urease activities compared to the distilled-water treated control soil. Moreover, compared to the control treatment, soil phosphomonoesterase activity was significantly increased from 25 to 75 % application rates, but decreased at 100 % textile wastewater application rate. Total and available soil N contents increased significantly in response to application of textile wastewater. Despite significant increases in the soil total P contents after the addition of textile wastewater, soil available P content decreased with increasing concentration of wastewater. Changes in soil nutrient contents and related enzymatic activities suggested a dynamic match between substrate availability and soil N and P contents. Aridisols have high fixation and low P availability, application of textile wastewater to such soils should be considered only after careful assessment.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported financially by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan. The results presented in this paper are a part of M. Phil studies of Mr. Akhtar Rasool.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Saleem Arif, Muhammad Riaz, Tahira Yasmeen, Mahnaz Roohi & Akhtar Rasool

  2. Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

    Sher Muhammad Shahzad

  3. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Laboratory of Ecological Systems (ECOS), Bâtiment GR, Station 2, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Alexandre Buttler

  4. WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Site Lausanne, Station 2, Case postale 96, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Alexandre Buttler

  5. Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientıficas, Madrid, Spain

    Juan Carlos Garcıa-Gil

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  1. Muhammad Saleem Arif
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  2. Muhammad Riaz
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  3. Sher Muhammad Shahzad
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Correspondence to Muhammad Saleem Arif.

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Arif, M.S., Riaz, M., Shahzad, S.M. et al. Contrasting effects of untreated textile wastewater onto the soil available nitrogen-phosphorus and enzymatic activities in aridisol. Environ Monit Assess 188, 102 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5112-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5112-y

Keywords

  • Textile wastewater
  • Soil nitrogen
  • Soil phosphorus
  • Soil enzymes
  • Aridisol