Survey of Suspended Solids in Irrigation Water of Ornamental Plant Nurseries and Effects of Filtration
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 6
Abstract
The objectives of this study are to (1) characterize the consistency of laser diffraction (LD) and automated dynamic image analysis (DIA) instruments in estimating the size of suspended peat particles in water and the sphericity of peat particles measured using DIA; (2) characterize the particle-size distribution of suspended solids in irrigation water sources from a survey of plant nurseries; and (3) analyze total suspended solids (TSS) upstream and downstream of fiber media and screen filters installed for filtration of recirculated water in commercial plant nurseries. Over 70% of peat particles had an estimated circularity value greater than 0.7, indicating a mix of elongated and spherical particles. The DIA and LD estimates of median particle diameter with circular particle-shape models yielded similar results when tested on three peat particle-size classes and two levels of TSS. TSS varied greatly in different water sources, with an average , with a range of 2.5– for well water, average (range of 1.6–) from uncovered catchment basins, and an average of (range of 2.0–) from ebb-and-flood subirrigation return water, respectively. Across all water sources, TSS ranged from 1.6 to , averaging . The suspended-particle diameter in the 10th, 50th (or median), and 90th percentiles by total particle volume was 28, 116, and 347 μm, respectively, which is relevant when considering the amount of suspended solids that are likely to be removed by filters of different micrometer sizes. Fiber media and screen filters reduced TSS by an average of the prefiltration TSS. Microscopy analysis of several fiber media filters showed that the pore sizes reported by vendors were smaller than the observed particle pore sizes. Multiple filtration stages would be ideal for ebb-and-flood water because of the high and variable TSS levels observed in recirculated ebb-and-flood water samples, the wide range of particle sizes and shapes, and the average removal of approximately half the TSS by a single stage of screen or fiber media filtration.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the USDA-ARS Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative Award 58-3607-8-725, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Award 2014-51181-22372, and industry partners of the Floriculture Research Alliance (floriculturealliance.org) for supporting this research. The authors also thank Dale Haskell and the Research Service Centers of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at University of Florida for providing data collection and technical assistance.
References
Adin, A. 1999. “Particle characteristics: A key factor in effluent treatment and reuse.” Wat. Sci. Tech. 40 (4–5): 67–74. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1999.0576.
Adin, A., and M. Elimelech. 1989. “Particle filtration for wastewater irrigation.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 115 (3): 474–487. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(1989)115:3(474).
APHA (American Public Health Association). 1998. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 20th ed., edited by A. D. Eation, L. S. Clersceri, and A. S. Greenberg. Washington, DC: American Publishing.
ASTM. 2017. Standard specification for woven wire test sieve cloth and test sieves. ASTM E11. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Baynes, E. R. C. 2012. “Peat bog restoration: Implications of erosion and sediment transfer at Flow Moss, North Pennines.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Geography, Durham Univ.
Bucks, D. A., F. S. Nakayama, and R. G. Gilbert. 1979. “Trickle irrigation water quality and preventative maintenance.” Agric. Water Manage. 2 (2): 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3774(79)90028-3.
Cox, E. P. 1927. “A method of assigning numerical and percentage values to the degree of roundness of sand grains.” J. Paleontol. 1 (3): 179–183.
Ehret, D. L., B. Alsanius, W. Wohanka, J. G. Menzies, and R. Utkhede. 2001. “Disinfestation of recirculating nutrient solutions in greenhouse horticulture.” Agronomie 21 (4): 323–339. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2001127.
Fisher, P. R., G. Mohammad-Pour, D. W. Haskell, J. Huang, and D. P. Meador. 2013. “Water sanitizing agents such as chlorine and chlorine dioxide interact with peat substrate and suspended solids.” Acta Horticulturae 1013: 279–284. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1013.33.
Floriculture Research Alliance. 2019. “Greenhouse and nursery growers.” Accessed March 21, 2019. https://floriculturealliance.org.
Haman, D., and F. Zazueta. 2017. Media filters for trickle irrigation in Florida. Gainesville, FL: Univ. of Florida.
Hentschel, M. L., and N. W. Page. 2003. “Selection of descriptors for particle shape characterization.” Part. Part. Syst. Char. 20 (1): 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.200390002.
ISO. 2016. “ISO 3310-1 Test Sieves—Technical requirements and testing—Part 1: Test sieves of metal wire cloth.” Accessed March 19, 2019. https://www.iso.org.
Levine, A. D., G. Tchobanoglous, and T. Asano. 1985. “Characterization of the size distribution of contaminants in wastewater: Treatment and reuse implications.” J. Water Pollut. Control Fed. 57 (7): 805–816.
Meador, D. P., P. R. Fisher, P. F. Harmon, N. A. Peres, M. Teplitski, and C. L. Guy. 2012. “Survey of physical, chemical, and microbial water quality in greenhouse and nursery irrigation water.” HortTech. 22 (6): 778–786. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH.22.6.778.
Raudales, R. E., P. R. Fisher, and C. R. Hall. 2017. “The cost of irrigation sources and water treatment in greenhouse production.” Irrig. Sci. 35 (1): 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0517-5.
Schalla, R., and W. H. Waiters. 1990. “Rationale for the design of monitoring well screens and filter packs.” In Ground water and vadose zone monitoring, edited by D. M. Nielsen and A. I. Johnson, 64–75. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Stewart-Wade, S. M. 2011. “Plant pathogens in recycled irrigation water in commercial plant nurseries and greenhouses: Their detection and management.” Irrig. Sci. 29 (4): 267–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-011-0285-1.
Storley, C. A. 2004. Using irrigation water tests to predict and prevent clogging of drip irrigation systems. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ.
Tysmans, D., P. Claeys, L. Deriemaeker, D. Maes, R. Finsy, and M. V. Molle. 2006. “Size and shape analysis of sedimentary grains by automated dynamic image analysis.” Part. Part. Syst. Char. 23 (5): 381–387. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.200500965.
Ufer, T., S. Werres, M. Posner, and H. P. Wessels. 2008. “Filtration to eliminate Phytophthora spp. from recirculating water systems in commercial nurseries.” Online Plant Health Progress 9 (1): 22. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-2008-0314-01-RS.
USEPA. 2011. “Water: Monitoring and assessment, what are total solids and why are they important?” Accessed March 21, 2019. https://archive.epa.gov/water/archive/web/html/vms58.html.
USEPA. 2012. Guidelines for water reuse. Washington, DC: USEPA.
Van Os, E. A. 2010. “Disease management in soilless culture systems.” Acta Hort. 883: 385–394. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.883.48.
Xu, R. 2000. “Particle size and shape analysis using laser scattering and image analysis.” Revista Latinoamericana de Metalurgia y Materiales 20 (2): 80–84.
Yao, K. M., M. T. Habibian, and C. R. O’Melia. 1971. “Water and waste water filtration: Concepts and applications.” Environ. Sci. Tech. 5 (11): 1105–1112. https://doi.org/10.1021/es60058a005.
Zielina, M. 2011. “Particle shapes in the drinking water filtration process.” Clean Soil Air Water 39 (11): 941–946. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201000432.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 6 • June 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 6, 2018
Accepted: Jan 2, 2019
Published online: Apr 9, 2019
Published in print: Jun 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Sep 9, 2019
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.