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SEWAGE DISPOSAL ON AGRICULTURAL SOILS: CHEMICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. VOLUME I. CHEMICAL IMPLICATIONS
Citation:
Hossner, L., C. Kao, R. Weaver, AND J. Waggoner. SEWAGE DISPOSAL ON AGRICULTURAL SOILS: CHEMICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. VOLUME I. CHEMICAL IMPLICATIONS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-78/131A.
Description:
The city of San Angelo, Texas, has used sewage effluent which has undergone primary treatment for irrigation of the same 259-hectare sewage farm since 1958. The impact of 18 years of sewage effluent irrigation on the soil and water quality was studied from 1975 to 1977. The volume of sewage arriving at the sewage treatment plant ranged from 0.219 to 0.351 cu m/sec. and contributed from 3.4 to 31.2 percent of the total flow of the bordering Concho River in 1976. The fate of applied nitrogen, phosphorus, and selected heavy metals in the soil-water-plant ecosystem were examined. Phosphorus accumulated in the soil profile to depths of 200 cm along with a slight build-up of certain heavy metals in the surface soils. Deep wells appeared to be uncontaminated by the sewage farm operation.