Impact of wastewater irrigation on chemical composition and heavy metals accumulation in soil (study case: Helwan-El Saff area)

Elliethy, Mervat Z.; Ragab, Abdel Aziz M.; Bedair, Ramadan I.; Khafagi, Om Mohamed A.

doi:10.21608/absb.2022.140217.1186

Impact of wastewater irrigation on chemical composition and heavy metals accumulation in soil (study case: Helwan-El Saff area)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science (Girls Branch), Al- Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

² Soil, Water and Environment Research institute Agriculture Research Center Giza, Egypt.

³ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science (Boys Branch), Al- Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/absb.2022.140217.1186

Abstract

This investigation was conducted on nine sites at Helwan – El Saff area, Cairo, and Giza governorates (polluted area), and three sites, in Metrabeaa village, Monofia governorate (control). This study aimed to assess the impact of wastewater irrigation on soil quality and to test the possibility of using it as an alternative for fresh water in irrigation of agricultural land. Water and soil samples were collected from El-Khashab canal (polluted water) and Al-Bagoria canal (Nile water) and cultivated land sites adjacent to them during two seasons (July 2019 and July 2020). The values of electric conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), studied cations, anions and heavy metals were significantly higher; in wastewater samples than in Nile water samples; meanwhile, the opposite was true for hydrogen ion concentration (pH), available nitrogen and phosphorus (N and P). The values of EC, Ca⁺⁺, Na⁺, Cl^-, SO₄^--, CaCO_3,organic matter(OM) and all studied heavy metals increased in soil irrigated with wastewater as compared with the soil irrigated with Nile water; meanwhile, the opposite was true for pH, Mg⁺⁺, soluble K⁺, and HCO₃^-. The values of contamination factor followed the order: Co ˃ Cr ˃ Zn ˃ Mn ˃ Fe ˃ Cu ˃ Pb. Moreover, the pollution load index of soil ranged from 25.81 to 16.16. The data of this research revealed that wastewater of El-Khashab canal could effectively be used as fertility source for soil, but there are some risks as heavy metals may threaten sustainable agriculture in the study area.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Botany

References

[1] Gurjar OP, Meena R, Latare AM, Rai S, Kumar A, Sheshama MK. Effect of sewage wastewater irrigation compare to ground water irrigation on soil physic-chemical properties. Int. J. Chem. Studies 2017; 5(6): 265- 267.

[2] El Youssfi L, Choukr-Allah R, Zaafrani M, Mediouni T, Sarr F, Hirich A. Effect of domestic treated wastewater use on three varieties of amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) Under Semi-Arid Conditions. World Academy of Science, Eng. Technol. 2012. P. 62.

[3] Seada T, Mohamed R, Abdou D. The Future of Agriculture in Egypt: Comparative Study of Organic and Conventional Crop Production Systems in Egypt. Version 2- May 2020. Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development, www.hu.edu.eg | hu@hu.edu.eg

[4] Abdelhaleem FS, Helal EY. Impacts of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on Different Water Usages in Upper Egypt. Br. j. appl. sci. 2015; 8(5): 461-483.

[5] Thapliyal A, Vasudevan P, Dastidar MG, Tandon M, Mishra S. Irrigation with domestic wastewater: responses on growth and yield of ladyfinger (Abelmoschus esculentus) and on Soil Nutrients. J. Environ. Biol. 2011; 32: 645-651.

[6] Ganjegunte G, Ulery A, Niu G, Wu Y. Organic carbon, nutrient, and salt dynamics in saline soil and switch grass (Panicum virgatum L.) irrigated with treated municipal wastewater. Land Degrad. Dev. 2018; 29: 80-90.

[7] Ofori S, Puškáčová A, Růžičková I, Wanner J. Treated wastewater reuse for irrigation: Pros and cons. Sci. Total Environ. 2020; 760: 1-15.

[8] Abegunrin TP, Awe GO, Idowu DO, Onigbogi OO, Onofua OE. Effect of kitchen wastewater irrigation on soil properties and growth of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). J. Soil Sci. Environ. 2013; 4(7): 139-145.

[9] AL-Jaboobi M, Tijane M, EL-Ariqi Sh, El Housni A, Zouahri A, Bouksaim M. Assessment of the impact of wastewater use on soil properties. J. Mater. Environ. Sci. 2014; 5 (3): 747-752.

[10] Gatta G, Libutti a, Gagliardi A, Beneduce L, Brusetti L, Borruso L, et al. Treated agro-industrial wastewater irrigation of tomato crop: Effects on qualitative/ quantitative characteristics of production and microbiological properties of the soil. Agric. Water Manag. 2015; 149: 33- 43.

[11] Naz H, Naz A, Ashraf S. Impact of heavy metal toxicity to plant growth and nodulation in Chickpea grown under heavy metal stress. International Journal for Research in Emerging Science and technology, IJREST, 2015; 2(5): 248-260.

[12] Abd-Elwahed MS. Inﬂuence of long-term wastewater irrigation on soil quality and its spatial distribution. Ann. Agric. Sci. 2018; 63: 191–199.

[13] Mojid MA, Wyseure GCL. Implications of municipal wastewater irrigation on soil health from a study in Bangladesh. Soil Use Manag. 2013; 29: 384-396.

[14] El-Sayed MH, Shawky HA, Abdel Mottaleb MSA. Geochemistry of water resources and pollution problems in Helwan area, Egypt. Egyptian J. Desert Res. 2004; 54 (2):259-289.

[15] Salem TM, Ahmed ShS, Hamed MA, Abd ElAziz GH. Risk assessment of hazardous impacts on urbanization and industrialization activities based upon toxic substances. Global J. Environ. Sci. Manage.2016; 2(2):163-176.

[16] Awad S, Melegy A, Salman SA, Samy Y, Said I. Hydrochemistry and Quality Assessment of El Tebbin Surface Water, South Cairo, Egypt. Int. J. Environ. 2015; 4 (2): 172-180.

[17] Piper CS. Soil and plant analysis. Adelaide, Australia 1950; 368 p.

[18] Walkley A. A critical examination of rapid method for determining organic carbon in soils. Effect of valuations in digestion conditions and inorganic soil constituents. Soil Sci. 1947; 63: 251-264.

[19] Wright CH. Soil Analysis. Thomas Marley and Co. London, U. K. 1939.

[20] USDA. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soil. U. S. Salinity Laboratory staff, United States Department of Agriculture. 1969; (USDA). Handbook 2 Ed. 60, USA

[21] Ayers RS, Westcot DW. Water Quality for Agriculture. FAO Irrigation and Drainage 1985; Paper 29, Rome, Italy.

[22] Nelson RE. Carbonate and Gypsum In: Methods of soil analysis: Part 2, 2^ndpage, C. A. Black (ed). Agronomy homograph No.9 1982; PP. 181.

[23] Jackson ML. Soil chemicals analysis. Prentice-Hall of India. Private, New Delhi, India 1967; 498 p.

[24] Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR. Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties. American Society of Agronomy. Wisconsin, United States of America 1982; 1159 p.

[25] Black CA (Ed). Methods of Soil Analysis. Amer. Soc. Agron. Inc. Pub. Madison, Wisconsin, USA 1965; PP, 1572.

[26] Christain GD. Medicine, trace elements and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Anal. Ch. 1969; 41, 1.244.

[27] Soltanpour PN, Schwab AP. A new soil test for simultaneous extraction of macro and micro nutrients in alkaline soils. Community of Soil Science, Plant Annals. 1977; 3: 195-207.

[28] Hakanson L. Ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control: sediment logical approach. Water Res. 1980; 14: 975–100.

[29] Varol M. Assessment of heavy metal contamination in sediments of the Tigris River (Turkey) using pollution indices and multivariate statistical techniques. J. Hazard. Mater. 2011; 195: 355-364.

[30] Snedecor G, Cochran W. Statistical Methods, 8^thed. Iowa State Univ., Press Ames Iowa, USA 1989; 325 - 330.

[31] Richards LA (Ed). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soil. U. S. Dept. Agric. Handbook No. 60 Gov. 1954; Print Out.

[32] FAO, Food and Agricultural Organization. Wastewater treatment and use in agriculture. Irrigation and Drainage 1992; Paper 47, FAO, Rome.

[33] Gedamy YR, El-Aassar AM, Abdel-Gawad AM. Pollutants Detection in Water Resources at El Saff Area and Their Impact on Human Health, Giza Governorate, Egypt. Int. J. Environ.2012; 1(1): 1-14.

[34] Agrama AA, El-Sayed EA. Assessing and mapping water quality (case study: western Delta- Egypt). International Water Technology Journal, IWTJ, 2013; 3(3): 158-169.

[35] WHO/FAO. Joint FAO/WHO Food Standard Program Codex Alimentations Commission 13^thSession. Report of the Thirty Eight Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. United States of America, ALINORM 2007; 07/30/13.

[36] FAO. Food and Agricultural Organization, User’s manual for irrigation with treated wastewater. Regional Office for the near East, Cairo, Egypt 2003.

[37] El-Nahhal Y, Tubail K, Mohamad Safi M, Safi J. Effect of treated wastewater irrigation on plant growth and soil properties in Gaza Strip, Palestine. Am. J. Plant Sci. 2013; 4: 1736-1743.

[38] Khafagi OA, Ragab AM, El- Sayed HM, Moursy MM, Mohamed SK. Assessment of macro - nutrients and heavy metals accumulation in soil and four biofuel crop plants under long- term irrigation with wastewater. Int. j. innov. sci. eng. 2018a; 5(8): 2348-7968, (online) www.ijiset.com

[39] Abd El-Hady BA. Compare the Effect of Polluted and River Nile Irrigation Water on Contents of Heavy Metals of Some Soils and Plants. J. agric. biol. sci. 2007; 3(4): 287-294.

[40] Sánchez–González A, Chapela-Lara M, German-Venegas E, Fuentes-Garcia R, del Rio-Portilla F, Siebe C. Change in quality and quantity of soil organic matter stocks resulting from wastewater irrigation in formerly forested land. Geoderma 2017; 306: 99- 107.

[41] Becerra- Castro C, Lopes AR, Vaz-Moreira I, Silva EF, Manaia CM, Nunes OC. Wastewater reuse in irrigation: a microbiological perspective on implications in soil fertility and human and environmental health. Environ. Int. 2015; 75: 117- 135.

[42] El-Motaium RA, Badawy SH. Effect of irrigation using sewage water on the distribution of some heavy metals in bulk and rhizosphere soils and different plant species: Cabbage plant (Brassica oleracea L.) and Orange trees (Citurs sinensis L.) Egypt. J. Soil Sci. 2000; 40 (2): 285-303.

[43] Kwiatkowska-Malina J. Function of organic matter in polluted soil: the effect of organic amendments on phytoavailability of heavy metals. Appl. Soil Ecol., 2018; 123: 542-545.

[44] El- Lawendy WI, Khafagi OA, Abdel- Aal H. Characteristic of treated sewage effluent and its impact on soil properties in El Saff area. Al-Azhar Bull.Sci. 2000; 2 (2): 1-11.

[45] Dotaniya ML, Rajendiran S, Meena VD, Coumar MV, Saha JK, Kundu S, et al. Patra AK. Impact of long-term application of sewage on soil and crop quality in vertisols of Central India. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2018; 4: 1-8.

[46] El Azab HE, Afify AA, Soliman MM. The impact of informal irrigation practices on soil drainage condition, soil pollution and land suitability for agriculture in El Saff area of El Giza Governorate. Egypt. J. Remote Sens. Space Sci. 2015; 18: 163-179.

[47] USDA-NRCS. Soil Health; Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC, USA, 2021. Available online: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/health.

[48] UNFAO. FAO Soils Portal-Degradation/Restoration; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2021. Available online: http://www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-degradation-restoration/en.

[49] Nunes FC, Alves LJ, Carvalho CCN, Gross E, Majeti P, de Marchi Soares T. Soil as a complex ecological system for meeting food and nutritional security. In Climate Change and Soil Interactions; Prasad, M.N.V., Pietrzykowski, M., Eds.; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2020; pp. 229–269.

[50] Guo M. Soil Health Assessment and Management: Recent Development in Science and Practices. Soil Syst. 2021; 5: 61- 81.

[51] Zanin E, Magro JD. Adsorption f heavy metals from wastewater graphic industry using clinoptilolite zeolite as adsorbent. Process Safety and Environmental protection, 2017; 105: 194 -200.

[52] Khafagi OA, Ragab AAM, Marie SM, Mohsen AAA. Effect of wastewater irrigation on some chemical characteristics of soil and grown plants. Egypt.J.Appl. Sci. 2010; 25 (4): 1-18.

[53] Silici L. Agroecology, what it is and what it has to offer. Food and agriculture 2014; 8:1-28.