Data requirements for managing forested sites used to renovate municipal wastewater

Abstract

Land treatment of municipal wastewater on forested sites is gaining more attention in both industrialized and developing countries. There is a pressing need to establish the renovation process rates in advance of operational systems. The renovation of the wastewater on a forested site occurs in the soil mantle, the forest floor and the vegetation. This paper addresses itself to the necessity of intensive sampling to monitor the nutrient status of the soil water, the soil mantle, the forest floor and the above-ground vegetation. Uncomplicated sampling designs together with the sophistication of covariance analysis leads to an understanding of the interactions at work in a land treatment system. A change in state of any one or more of these site components resulting from the irrigation will lead to changes in nutrient renovation. The results from the sampling can be used to determine management prescriptions in subsequent operational systems.