Effects of municipal sewage sludge-cake on nitrogen and phosphorus distributions in a pine plantation

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:7086418

Richter, D D; Johnson, D W; Ingram, D M

Anaerobically digested and dewatered sewage sludge-cake was applied at a rate of 275 Mg/ha to a recently clearcut Sequoia silt loam (Typic Hapludult) that was subsequently planted to loblolly pine. The sludge represented an application of about 1500 kg N/ha and 675 P/ha. After four growing seasons N and P distributions were determined in the plant-soil system. Soil solutions were sampled from B horizons in the first and fourth years after treatment to evaluate leaching losses of NO/sub 3//sup -/, NH/sub 4//sup +/, and PO/sub 4//sup 3 -/. Four years after the sludge treatment, differences between sludge-treated and control plots in soil N and P amounted to about 1180 and 868 kg/ha, respectively, in the surface 15 cm of mineral soil. Residual effects persisted for soil-extractable PO/sub 4//sup 3 -/, NO/sub 3//sup -/, and NH/sub 4//sup +/ with 30/sup -/, 10/sup -/, and 1.5-fold increases, respectively, in the surface 15 cm of mineral soil. Concentrations of NO/sub 3//sup -/-N in subsoil solutions increased shortly after the sludge treatment, although mean concentrations for individual water collections were not elevated above the USEPA drinking water standard of 10 ppM. Four years after treatment, mean NO/sub 3//sup -/-N concentrations in subsoil solutions were less than 2 ppM. Mean concentrations of NH/sub 4//sup +/-N and PO/sub 4//sup 3 -/-P in subsoil solutions did not exceed 1.0 and 0.03 ppM.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Duke Univ., Durham, NC (USA). School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 7086418
• Report Number(s): CONF-820954-1; ON: DE82022264
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

553000* -- Agriculture & Food Technology
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
BIOCONVERSION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CONIFERS
DIGESTION
DISSOLUTION
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
GROWTH
LEACHING
LOAM
MANAGEMENT
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NITRATES
NITROGEN
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NONMETALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHATES
PHOSPHORUS
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PINES
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
PROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SEWAGE
SEWAGE SLUDGE
SLUDGES
SOILS
TREES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES