Abstract
Drought condition in many places leads to the imperative use of greywater for irrigation. There is a serious concern on the impact of such prolonged uses on soil sustainability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term impacts of greywater irrigation on soil electrical conductivity (EC) and other soil quality parameters in field conditions. Six locations were monitored in this study where home gardens have been irrigated with treated greywater for 2 years. Results showed a general reduction in EC levels of soil samples along all depth intervals at all locations. The average soil EC before greywater irrigation was 0.97 dS/m and decreased to 0.41 dS/m, which may be due to the use of greywater as well as the rainwater effect. The reduction in soil EC and irrigation water quantity shows positive correlation (correlation coefficient r = 0.64). Calcium precipitation might also have a major role in soil EC reduction. Soil calcium content was 81 mg L−1 before using treated greywater and decreased to 43 mg L−1 after 2 years of treated greywater usage, which might have been caused by calcium carbonates (CaCO3) precipitation. The results of other soil chemical analyses clearly show that using treated greywater for irrigation has reduced the concentration of organic matters, K, Cd, Pb, P, Mg, Cl, Na, exchangeable sodium percentage, and sodium adsorption ratio after 2 years of application. Zn concentration increased from 11 to 15 mg L−1, and soil pH became slightly higher from 7.6 to 7.8.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abu Ghunmi L (2009) Characterization and treatment of greywater; options for (re)use. PhD Dissertation, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, ISBN 978-90-8585-393-0
Abu-Zreig M, Rudra R, Dickinson W (2003) Effect of application of surfactants on hydraulic properties of soils. Biosyst Eng 84(3):363–372
Al-Hamaiedeh H, Bino M (2010) Effect of treated grey water reuse in irrigation on soil and plants. Desalination 256(1):115–119
Al-Jayyousi O (2001) Focused environmental assessment of greywater reuse in Jordan. Environ Eng Policy 3(1):67–73
Al-Zu’bi Y, Arabeyyat Z, Dababneh B, Abubaker S (2009) Chemical characterization of soil irrigated by greywater. In: International Symposium on High Technology for Greenhouse Systems: GreenSys2009 893
American Public Health Association (APHA) (1995) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 19th edn. APHA, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, Washington, DC
Anwar AF (2011) Effect of greywater irrigation on soil characteristics. In: 2nd International Conference on Environmental Science and Development 2011
Boyd CE (1995) Bottom soils, sediment, and pond aquaculture. Springer, New York
Christova-Boal D, Eden RE, McFarlane S (1996) An investigation into greywater reuse for urban residential properties. Desalination 106(1):391–397
Department of Statistics (DOS) (2011) Jordan in figures 2010, Issue 13. Department of Statistics, Amman
Eriksson E, Auffarth K, Henze M, Ledin A (2002) Characteristics of grey wastewater. Urban Water 4(1):85–104
Fardous A-N, Mudabber M, Jitan M, Badwan R (2004) Harnessing salty water to enhance sustainable livelihoods of the rural poor in four countries in West Asia and North Africa: Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Tunisia. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, National Center for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer (NCARTT)
Finley S, Barrington S, Lyew D (2009) Reuse of domestic greywater for the irrigation of food crops. Water Air Soil Pollut 199(1–4):235–245
Kariuki FW, Ng’ang’a VG, Kotut K (2012) Hydrochemical characteristics, plant nutrients and metals in household greywater and soils in Homa Bay Town. Open Environ Eng J 5:103–109
Lanfax Laboratories (2007) Greywater reuse—impact of household chemicals on usability. http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au. Accessed 20 Feb 2014
Lanfax Laboratories (2009) The 2009 round of laundry products testing and reporting. http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au/laundry.htm. Accessed 20 Feb 2014
Lanfax Laboratories (2011) Greywater appears to be an answer–but to what question. http://www.lanfaxlabs.com.au. Accessed 20 Feb 2014
Lindsay W, Norvell WA (1978) Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci Soc Am J 42(3):421–428
Masoud NG, Sharvelle SE, Stromberger ME, Olson C, Roesner LA (2012) Fate of graywater constituents after long-term application for landscape irrigation. Water Air Soil Pollut 223(8):4733–4749
Miller W, Miller D (1987) A micro-pipette method for soil mechanical analysis. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 18(1):1–15
Mohamed RMSR, Kassim AHM, Anda M, Dallas S (2013) A monitoring of environmental effects from household greywater reuse for garden irrigation. Environ Monit Assess 185(10):8473–8488
Murad B, Shihab B, Mohammad A (2010) Greywater use in rural home gardens in Karak, Jordan, In: McIlwaine, Redwood (eds) Greywater Use in the Middle East Booklet. IDRC. ISBN 978-1-85339-698-4
Noah M (2002) Graywater use still a gray area. J Environ Health 64(10):22
Olsen SR (1954) Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. U.S. Dept Agric Circ 939:19
Pinto U, Maheshwari B, Grewal H (2010) Effects of greywater irrigation on plant growth, water use and soil properties. Resour Conserv Recycl 54(7):429–435
Richards LA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Soil Sci 78(2):154
Robbins CW (1984) Sodium adsorption ratio-exchangeable sodium percentage relationships in a high potassium saline-sodic soil. Irrig Sci 5(3):173–179
Ryan J, Estefan G, Rashid A (2001) Soil and plant analysis laboratory manual, ICARDA
Tarchouna LG, Merdy P, Raynaud M, Pfeifer H-R, Lucas Y (2010) Effects of long-term irrigation with treated wastewater. Part I: Evolution of soil physico-chemical properties. Appl Geochem 25(11):1703–1710
Travis MJ, Wiel-Shafran A, Weisbrod N, Adar E, Gross A (2010) Greywater reuse for irrigation: Effect on soil properties. Sci Total Environ 408(12):2501–2508
Wiel-Shafran A, Ronen Z, Weisbrod N, Adar E, Gross A (2006) Potential changes in soil properties following irrigation with surfactant-rich greywater. Ecol Eng 26(4):348–354
World Health Organization (2006) Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater, policy and regulatory aspects. World Health Organization, Geneva
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to the Jordanian National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE) for the support of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Albalawneh, A., Chang, TK. & Chou, CS. Impacts on soil quality from long-term irrigation with treated greywater. Paddy Water Environ 14, 289–297 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-015-0499-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-015-0499-6