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.
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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.
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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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
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