THE EFFECT OF IRRIGATION WITH TREATED WASTEWATER ON SOME SOIL AND PLANT PROPERTIES.

Today the use of municipal wastewater as alternative source of water for irrigation purpose is a common practice. Adsorption process has been found to be one of the most effective and economic method with high potential for removal and recovery of contaminants from wastewater. In this study the effect of irrigation with treated wastewater on plant and soil’s chemical and physical properties is studied. The treatment of wastewater by adsorption onto nano Montmorillonite or Montmorillonite - Humic complex was carried out by using fixed bed column model. Total organic carbon, heavy metals, major cations and anions, EC, and pH were determined before and after treatment process. Wastewater purification occurred with flow rate of 100 ml/hour for each 10g nano Montmorillonite or Montmorillonite - Humic complex. Results showed that the Montmorillonite - Humic complex was much better in wastewater treatment than nano Montmorillonite where humic acid increased the total active and binding sites. Pot experiment were conducted to study the influence of irrigation with treated and non treated wastewater on yield and chemical composition of Faba Bean plant and soil’s chemical and physical properties. Plant and soil analysis showed great changes in plant and soil properties after irrigation with treated wastewater than untreated due to significant reduction of heavy metals, total organic carbon, EC, total dissolved solids and pH. The interesting outcome of this study is that treated wastewater is an effective source for irrigation. It is encouraging to reuse wastewater in agriculture system after full treatment.