EFECTOS DE LAS ENMIENDAS ORGÁNICAS SOBRE LAS PROPIEDADES FÍSICAS DEL SUELO CON ESPECIAL REFERENCIAS A LA ADICIÓN DE LODOS URBANOS

Abstract

Urban sewage sludge, most organic from water treatments have increased in the last years in Chile. This has generated the need of their final disposition. In the first instance, the sewage sludge are accumulated in a sanitary areas and later can be used as amendment on the agricultural and forestry soil. In the present work we document about the effects of sewage sludge application on physical soil properties and the need for future research. Large quantities of urban sewage sludge are added onto the soils to obtain yield response of field crops and to improve physical soil properties. However, these organic materials may modify these properties, Several works have been evaluated the soil physical parameters such as bulk density and soil porosity and demonstrated that they cause positive effects, but these are not stable for long and even, much of their effects are negatives. However, the last have been scarce evaluated when large quantities of sewage sludge are applied. But their use could be positive, when implemented for nursery plants and in fragile environmental such as shallow and sandy. Other physical parameters such as shear strength and soil precompression stress have been not studied. This leaves open for new studies in this area together with the examination of the effects of sewage sludge on soil chemical properties.