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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 43(3)

Competitive sorption of metals in water repellent soils: Implications for irrigation recycled water

X. Xiong A , F. Stagnitti B G , N. Turoczy B , G. Allinson B , P. Li A , J. Nieber C , T. S. Steenhuis D , J-Y. Parlange D , M. LeBlanc B , A. K. Ziogas E , A. J. D. Ferreira F and J. J. Keizer F
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- Author Affiliations

A Department of Pollution Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 417, Shenyang, 110016, China.

B School of Ecology and Environment, Deakin University, PO Box 423, Warrnambool, Vic. 3280. Australia.

C Dept of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.

D Dept of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.

E Dept of Civil Engineering, Democritos University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece.

F Departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal.

G Corresponding author. Email: frank.stagnitti@deakin.edu.au

Australian Journal of Soil Research 43(3) 351-356 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04086
Submitted: 25 June 2004  Accepted: 17 February 2005   Published: 25 May 2005

Abstract

Australia is a water-stressed nation and demand on potable water supply is increasing. Consequently water conservation and reuse are increasingly becoming important. Irrigation of recycled wastewater on water repellent soils is a technology that is being trialled as a means of improving crop production and conserving potable supply. However, recycled water contains potentially harmful heavy metals. This paper reports the competitive sorption and desorption of several common heavy metals found in soils collected from a farm located in the south-east of South Australia. The soil from this location is severely water repellent, but some sites were amended with kaolinite clay (Si4Al4O10(OH)8) about 7 and 15 years ago. The metals studied were Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn. Competitive sorption of the metals was distinctly observed. For all heavy metals, the quantity of metal sorbed was higher in amended soil, and there was a strong correlation between the specific sorption to total sorption ratio and the amount of clay in the soil. The sorption intensities varied with metal, Cr, Pb, and Cu having a high sorption tendencies and Zn, Cd, and Ni having comparatively low sorption tendencies. The total sorption capacity for all metals increased in clay-treated soils compared with non-treated soils. On average, clay-amended water repellent soils had a 20–40% increased capacity to adsorb total metals; however, this increase was largely caused by the increased capacities to adsorb Zn, Cd, and Ni. The effect of clay treatment largely enhanced the sorption capacity of relatively weakly adsorbing heavy metals. The implications for using recycled wastewater on the long-term sustainable agro-environmental management of these soils are discussed.

Additional keywords: sorption, desorption, clay, kaolinite, heavy metal, recycled wastewater, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc.


Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Australian Research Council Large Grant Schemes #A10014154 and A89701825, the National Basic Research program of China (973 Program 2004CB418506), the National Developing Project of Research on Advanced Technologies 2004AA649060, the Key Project of Chinese National Natural Science Foundation Grants 20337010, the Project of Chinese National Natural Science Foundation Grants 20277040, and EU Project FAIR contract number CT98-4027. The authors wish to sincerely acknowledge the help from farmer Colin Kubenk and access to his farm, and 2 anonymous referees for their helpful comments and insights.


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