Replacing saline-sodic irrigation water with treated wastewater: effects on saturated hydraulic conductivity, slaking, and swelling

Irrigation with saline-sodic water imposes sodic conditions on the soil and reduces the soil's productivity. We hypothesized that replacing saline-sodic irrigation water with lesser saline-sodic treated waste water (TWW), albeit with higher loads of organic matter and suspended solids, might he...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Irrigation science 2008, Vol.26 (2), p.139-146
Main Authors: Bhardwaj, A. K, Mandal, U. K, Bar-Tal, A, Gilboa, A, Levy, G. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Aquatic Pollution
Autumn
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate Change
Conductivity
Environment
Geophysics
Irrigation
Irrigation water
Life Sciences
Organic matter
Original Paper
Rainy season
Salinity
Seasons
Sodic soils
Soils
Spring
Suspended solids
Sustainable Development
Waste treatment
Waste Water Technology
Wastewater treatment
Water Industry/Water Technologies
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Water treatment
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Summary:Irrigation with saline-sodic water imposes sodic conditions on the soil and reduces the soil's productivity. We hypothesized that replacing saline-sodic irrigation water with lesser saline-sodic treated waste water (TWW), albeit with higher loads of organic matter and suspended solids, might help sodic soils regain their structure and hydraulic conductivity. We studied hydraulic conductivity (HC), aggregate stability and clay swelling of a soil from the Bet She'an Valley, Israel using samples taken from a non-cultivated field (control), and plots irrigated with TWW, saline-sodic Jordan River (JR) water, and moderately saline-sodic spring (SP) water. Soil samples were taken at the end of the irrigation season (autumn 2005) and at the end of the subsequent rainy season (spring 2006). In the HC and the aggregate stability determinations, for both sampling seasons, the TWW-irrigated samples gave significantly higher values than the SP- and JR-irrigated samples, but lower than the samples from the control plot. The autumn samples exhibited, generally, higher HC and lower swelling levels compared with the spring samples. Conversely, aggregate stability of the spring samples was higher than that of the autumn samples. These seasonal changes in the results of the three tests were associated with seasonal changes in the salinity and sodicity of the soils.
ISSN:0342-7188
1432-1319
DOI:10.1007/s00271-007-0080-1