Effect of irrigation with treated municipal waste water on soil and crops

Abstract EN

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of treated municipal waste water on wheat and alfalfa crop in a silty-clay soil.

Mean dry matter yield of alfalfa was 94.8 kg per plot using treated water and 76.9 kg per plot using fresh water and was significantly higher in treated water than fresh water irrigation.

The mean grain yield of wheat was 6.74 tons ha."1 with treated water and 5.95 tons ha.

~1 with fresh water irriga- tion.

The contents of Fc (145 mg g~ *) and Zn (35.5 mg g~ ’) in wheat crop were significantly higher with treated water irrigation as compared to Fe (133 mg g l) and Zn (26.5 mg g ') contents with fresh water.

Similarly, Fe concentration of alfalfa crop (359 mg g" ’) was significantly higher with treated water irrigation than with fresh water (325 mg Fe g ').

The con- centration of toxic metals such as Cu.

Pb.

Ni and Co in plants was beyond hazardous levels when compared to the established standards.

The concent ration of N increased significantly in soils.

Though P and K contents showed increasing trend using treated water but were not significantly different from that obtained with fresh water.

The nutrients in treated municipal waste water improved crop yields demonstrating its contribution to meeting some of the crop nutrient needs.