Wastewater Reuse Effects on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 130, Issue 6
Abstract
The wastewater total suspended solids (TSS) concentration effects on the saturated hydraulic conductivity, , of a clay and a loam soil were investigated on laboratory repacked soil cores by a constant head permeameter. Both municipal wastewater (MW) and artificial wastewater (AW) with different TSS concentrations were used, with the aim to evaluate, by comparison, the effects of biological activity. The development of a surface sealed layer was investigated in loam soil columns supplied with AW and equipped with water manometers at different depths to detect the hydraulic head gradient changes. In the loam soil, reduced to about 80% of the initial value after infiltration of of MW with . Reductions in were more remarkable in the clay soil. An empirical relationship was proposed to predict the relative hydraulic conductivity, , i.e., the ratio between actual and initial hydraulic conductivity versus the cumulative density loading of TSS. Hydraulic head gradients in the top layer of the soil columns increased during application of AW, as a consequence of the formation of a sealed layer, denoting that the surface pore sealing was the main mechanism responsible for the observed reductions. Laboratory data were gathered in a numerical simulation code specifically created to assess the consequences of reduction on water movement through the soil profile. Simulation of both ponded and sprinkler irrigation with MW resulted in reduced infiltration and increased surface ponding condition compared to the application of fresh water (FW).
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Abu-Sharar, T. M., Bingham, F. T., and Rhoades, J. D. (1987). “Reduction in hydraulic conductivity in relation to clay dispersion and disaggregation.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 51 (2), 342–346.
2.
American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation (APHA/AWWA/WEF). (1995). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 19th Ed., A. E. Eaton, L. S. Clesceri, and A. E. Greenberg, eds., APHA, NW, Washington.
3.
Blake, G.R., and Hartge, K.H. ( 1986). “Bulk density.” Methods of soil analysis, part 1, 2nd Ed., Agron. Monogr. 9, A. Klute, ed., American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis., 363–375.
4.
Celia, M. A., Boulouton, E. T., and Zarba, R. L. (1990). “A general mass conservation numerical solution for the unsaturated flow equation.” Water Resour. Res., 26 (7), 1483–1496.
5.
Clanton, C. J., and Slack, D. C. (1987). “Hydraulic properties of soils as affected by surface application of wastewater.” Trans. ASAE, 30 (3), 683–687.
6.
Crescimanno, G., Iovino, M., and Provenzano, G. (1995). “Influence of salinity and sodicity on soil structural and hydraulic characteristics.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 59 (6), 1701–1708.
7.
Criminisi, A., Giordano, G., and Iovino, M. ( 2000). “Modellazione dei flussi idrici sotto-superficiali attraverso un schema bidimensionale semplificato.” Atti del seminario su: “Monitoraggio dei processi idrologici,” A.I.I.A., Padova, Italy (in Italian with English abstract).
8.
Daniel, T. C., and Bouma, J. (1974). “Column studies of soil clogging in a slowly permeable soil as a function of effluent quality.” J. Environ. Qual., 3, 321–326.
9.
De Tar, W. R. (1979). “Infiltration of liquid daily manure into soil.” Trans. ASAE, 22 (3), 250–258, 531.
10.
De Vries, J. (1972). “Soil filtration of wastewater effluent and the mechanism of pore clogging.” J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 44 (3), 565–573.
11.
Frenkel, H., Goortzen, J. O., and Rhoades, J. D. (1978). “Effects of clay type and content, exchangeable sodium percentage and electrolyte concentration on clay dispersion and soil hydraulic conductivity.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 42 (1), 32–39.
12.
Gee, G.W., and Bauder, J.W. ( 1986). “Particle-size analysis.” Methods of soil analysis, part 1, 2nd Ed., Agron. Monogr. 9, A. Klute ed., American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis., 383–411.
13.
Hillel, D. ( 1980). Fundamentals of soil physics, Academic, New York.
14.
Iovino, M. (1998). “Applicazione della tecnica “multistep outflow” per la determinazione delle proprietà idrauliche del terreno col metodo inverso.” Irrig. Drenaggio, 45 (4), 25–34 (in Italian with English abstract).
15.
Istituto di Ricerca sulle acque, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IRSA/CNR). (1976). Metodi analitici per le acque, IRSA-CNR, Roma, Italy.
16.
Laak, R. (1970). “Influence of domestic wastewater pre-treatment on soil clogging.” J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 42 (8), 1495–1500.
17.
Mathers, A. C., Stewart, B. A., and Thomas, C. J. (1977). “Manure effects of water intake and runoff quality from irrigated grain sorghum plots.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 41 (4), 782–785.
18.
Menneer, J. C., McLay, C. D. A., and Lee, R. (2001). “Effects of sodium-contaminated wastewater on soil permeability of two New Zealand soils.” Aust. J. Soil Res., 39 (4), 877–891.
19.
Quanrud, D., Arnold, R., Wilson, L. G., and Conklin, M. (1996). “Effect of soil type on water quality improvement during soil aquifer treatment.” Water Sci. Technol., 33 (20-21), 419–432.
20.
Rice, R. C. (1974). “Soil clogging during infiltration of secondary effluent.” J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 46 (4), 709–716.
21.
Siegrist, R. L., and Boyle, W. C. (1987). “Wastewater-induced soil clogging development.” J. Environ. Eng., 113 (3), 550–566.
22.
Società Italiana della Scienza del Suolo (SISS). (1985). Metodi normalizzati di analisi del suolo, Edagricole, Bologna, Italy.
23.
Swartzendruber, D., and Uebler, R. L. (1982). “Flow of kaolinite and sewage suspensions in sand and sand-silt: II. Hydraulic conductivity reduction.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 46 (5), 912–916.
24.
Tarchitzky, J., Gobolati, Y., Keren, R., and Chen, Y. (1999). “Wastewater effects on montmorillonite suspensions and hydraulic properties of sandy soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 63 (3), 554–560.
25.
Uebler, R. L., and Swartzendruber, D. (1982). “Flow of kaolinite and sewage suspensions in sand and sand-silt: I. Accumulation of suspension particles.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 46 (2), 239–244.
26.
van Dam, J. C., and Feddes, R. A. (2000). “Numerical simulation of infiltration, evaporation and shallow groundwater levels with the Richards equation.” J. Hydrol., 233 (1-4), 72–85.
27.
van Genuchten, M. Th. (1980). “A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44 (5), 892–898.
28.
Vandevivere, P., and Baveye, P. (1992). “Saturated hydraulic conductivity reductions caused by aerobic bacteria in sand columns.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 56 (1), 1–13.
29.
Vinten, A. J. A., Mingelgrin, U., and Yaron, B. (1983a). “The effect of suspended solids in wastewater on soil hydraulic conductivity: I. Suspended solids labelling method.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 47 (3), 402–407.
30.
Vinten, A. J. A., Mingelgrin, U., and Yaron, B. (1983b). “The effect of suspended solids in wastewater on soil hydraulic conductivity: II. Vertical distribution of suspended solids.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 47 (3), 407–412.
31.
Viviani, G., Iovino, M., and Cicero, S. ( 1998). “Effects of wastewater reuse on soil hydraulic properties.” Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Advanced Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and Reuse, Milano, Italy.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 130 • Issue 6 • December 2004
Pages: 476 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 ASCE.
History
Published online: Nov 15, 2004
Published in print: Dec 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.