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SEWAGE DISPOSAL ON AGRICULTURAL SOILS: CHEMICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. VOLUME II. MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
Citation:
Weaver, R., N. Dronen, B. Foster, F. Heck, AND R. Fehrmann. SEWAGE DISPOSAL ON AGRICULTURAL SOILS: CHEMICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. VOLUME II. MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-78/131B.
Description:
The city of San Angelo, Texas, has been using agricultural land for decades as a means of disposing of all of its municipal sewage after primary treatment. Water applications have been high enough to satisfy crop requirements for a 600 ha farm even tough the farm consists of only 259 ha. The farm routinely supports about 500 cattle on its pastures and produces both row and hay crops. Land application of sewage has public health implications, and this study was conducted to evaluate these concerns. This was accomplished by monitoring the soils and waters on the farm to determine the incidence of Salmonella and parasites. There was an unusually high population of animal parasites in the soils as compared to off-farm control soils. This is thought to be due to the higher animal density, the vegetative cover, and relatively moist soil conditions on the farm.