Nutrients, Toxins, and Water in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems Treated with Sewage Plant Effluents. Final Report of the Upland Recharge Program

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7314571· OSTI ID:7314571

Woodwell, G. M.; Ballard, J. T.; Clinton, J.; Pecan, E. V.

The objective of this work was to appraise the capacity of terrestrial and aquatic plant communities for absorbing and retaining nutrients and organic matter in sewage and for releasing ''clean'' water. Experimental systems included a sere representative of the Eastern Deciduous Forest, a timothy field, two Phalaris arundinacea meadows, a freshwater marsh, a pond, and a marsh-pond complex. Sewage of two qualities was applied at the rate of 5 cm per week; one treatment was equivalent to the release from a primary treatment sewage plant, the second to that from a secondary treatment plant. Under normal circumstances, without the addition of water or nutrients in sewage, the flux of nutrients into the groundwater was greatest under the agricultural communities and least under the late successional forest communities. All the terrestrial communities were net sources of most elements. Because the agricultural communities were fertilized and a substantial fraction of the fertilizer applied remained after the first year, the agricultural communities appeared to be net sinks during the first year of the experiment. The highest concentrations of nutrients in the percolate of the untreated communities commonly occurred in the earliest stages of succession. This relationship was especially conspicuous for nitrogen. Phosphorus and iron appeared to be held tightly within most ecosystems.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-02-0016
• OSTI ID: 7314571
• Report Number(s): BNL-50513
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

553000* -- Agriculture & Food Technology
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
ANTIGENS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
COMMUNITIES
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
NUTRIENTS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
SEWAGE
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
TOXIC MATERIALS
TOXINS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER