Effects of water treatment residuals and coal combustion byproduct amendments on properties of a sandy soil and impact on crop production – a pot experiment

Abstract

The application of byproducts of coal combustion (fly ash: FA), livestock industry (chicken manure: CM), or water treatment residuals (sewage sludge: SS, or incinerated SS: ISS) to agricultural soils is an alternative to stockpiling in landfills, provided this does not lead to negative effects on environmental quality and/or enhances crop yield and/or quality. A pot experiment was conducted with the application of CM (5.6, 11.2 or 22.4 Mg ha−1), SS, ISS, or FA (22.4, 44.8, or 89.6 Mg ha−1) on properties of a Quincy fine sand and growth (130 days) and yield of ‘Russet Burbank’ (RB), and ‘Umatilla Russet’ (UR) potato cultivars. No significant effect was evident on RB cultivar with most of the treatments except yield reduction at 89.6 Mg ha−1 SS. Tuber yield of UR cultivar increased with 11.2 or 89.6 Mg ha−1 of CM or ISS, and decreased with 89.6 Mg ha−1 SS. Sequential fractionation of metals in the soils revealed significant treatment effects on the distribution of different forms (readily soluble, organically bound, precipitated, and residual forms) of Cu and Zn, particularly in respect to various rates of SS and ISS. Concentrations of total, organically bound, or precipitated Cu and Zn increased with increasing rates of SS and ISS.