ARITMA ÇAMURLARININ TARIMSAL AMAÇLI KULLANIMI:TOPRAKTAKİ AZOT PROSESLERİNDE MEYDANA GELEN DEĞİŞİMLER

Abstract

Sewage sludge which is produced as a byproduct during the operation of wastewater treatment plants must be properly treated and disposed of in order to eliminate any negative effects on human health and environment. Use of sludges with suitable characteristics for agricultural purposes is a method of disposal that increases productivity in agricultural production. In this study, it is aimed to determine the potential of agricultural use of digested sludge samples containing approximately 6% solids obtained from the wastewater treatment plant of a dairy industry in terms of nitrogen processes in the soil. In this direction, soil samples were applied with digested sludge at doses of 50 ton/ha, 100 ton/ha and 200 ton/ha and then the mixtures were incubated in the dark at 28 °C for 45 days. Total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentrations together with urease activity, arginine amonification rate and nitrification potential values which are commonly used in determination of soil quality were determined in soil samples taken at certain periods of incubation period. The obtained data apparently showed that the total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen concentrations of the soil samples increased with the increment of application dose of digested sludge. It was also determined that the urease activity, arginine amonification rate and nitrification potential values have a similar tendency of increment. It was reported that the ammonification process is more dominant than the nitrification process in soil samples treated with different doses of digested sludge. The overall results indicated that the digested sludge containing approximately 6% solids obtained from dairy products industry can be considered as an alternative to the nitrogen fertilizers which increases the agricultural productivity in terms of nitrogen processes, provided that they meet other requirements in the Mechanical Separation, Biofuels and Biomethanization Plants and the Fermented Product Management Communique.