Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli
A set of 4 soil column duplicates was irrigated with treated wastewater to study the possible leaching of nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli to groundwater. The reclaimed water was a municipal secondary effluent, stored for 5 days to attenuate microbial contamination. It had nitrate concentration o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Water |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950263224000048 |
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| author | Barbara Casale Angela Libutti Carlo Salerno Giovanni Berardi Pompilio Vergine |
| author_facet | Barbara Casale Angela Libutti Carlo Salerno Giovanni Berardi Pompilio Vergine |
| author_sort | Barbara Casale |
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| description | A set of 4 soil column duplicates was irrigated with treated wastewater to study the possible leaching of nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli to groundwater. The reclaimed water was a municipal secondary effluent, stored for 5 days to attenuate microbial contamination. It had nitrate concentration of 36.1±4.9 mgN/L, electrical conductivity of 1.6±0.1 mS/cm, and E. coli content between 36 and 918 MPN/100 mL (median value of 194 MPN/100 mL). Soil column tests were carried out over a period of 80 days, considering both the cultivation of a typical Mediterranean crop (pepper) and the edge case of non-cultivated soil. Nitrate and salt were up-taken by crops for around 90% and 50%, respectively, while they leached through non-cultivated soil according to linear relationships, with nitrate moving faster than salts. Due to its natural decay, E. coli never reached 66 cm depth. Crop irrigation with reclaimed water can be managed so as not to cause significant leaching of E. coli and nitrate, even though it may result in a small leaching of salt. Replacing groundwater with reclaimed water as an irrigation source should be considered as a possible action to protect aquifers, and especially those suffering from saline contamination, from the effects of overexploitation and overfertilization practices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6eca87c2c1e145b9ab0cf2264b278fdb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2950-2632 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Water |
| spelling | doaj-art-6eca87c2c1e145b9ab0cf2264b278fdb2024-11-23T06:35:57ZengElsevierCleaner Water2950-26322024-06-011100006Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coliBarbara Casale0Angela Libutti1Carlo Salerno2Giovanni Berardi3Pompilio Vergine4IRSA CNR, Viale F. De Blasio, 5, Bari 70132, ItalyDepartment of Science of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Foggia, ItalyIRSA CNR, Viale F. De Blasio, 5, Bari 70132, ItalyIRSA CNR, Viale F. De Blasio, 5, Bari 70132, ItalyIRSA CNR, Viale F. De Blasio, 5, Bari 70132, Italy; Corresponding author.A set of 4 soil column duplicates was irrigated with treated wastewater to study the possible leaching of nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli to groundwater. The reclaimed water was a municipal secondary effluent, stored for 5 days to attenuate microbial contamination. It had nitrate concentration of 36.1±4.9 mgN/L, electrical conductivity of 1.6±0.1 mS/cm, and E. coli content between 36 and 918 MPN/100 mL (median value of 194 MPN/100 mL). Soil column tests were carried out over a period of 80 days, considering both the cultivation of a typical Mediterranean crop (pepper) and the edge case of non-cultivated soil. Nitrate and salt were up-taken by crops for around 90% and 50%, respectively, while they leached through non-cultivated soil according to linear relationships, with nitrate moving faster than salts. Due to its natural decay, E. coli never reached 66 cm depth. Crop irrigation with reclaimed water can be managed so as not to cause significant leaching of E. coli and nitrate, even though it may result in a small leaching of salt. Replacing groundwater with reclaimed water as an irrigation source should be considered as a possible action to protect aquifers, and especially those suffering from saline contamination, from the effects of overexploitation and overfertilization practices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950263224000048FertigationIntensive farmingLeachingPepperSoil columnWater reuse |
| spellingShingle | Barbara Casale Angela Libutti Carlo Salerno Giovanni Berardi Pompilio Vergine Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli Cleaner Water Fertigation Intensive farming Leaching Pepper Soil column Water reuse |
| title | Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli |
| title_full | Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli |
| title_fullStr | Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli |
| title_short | Protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater: focus on nitrate, salt, and Escherichia coli |
| title_sort | protecting groundwater in intensive agricultural areas through irrigation with treated wastewater focus on nitrate salt and escherichia coli |
| topic | Fertigation Intensive farming Leaching Pepper Soil column Water reuse |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950263224000048 |
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