Influence of long-term sewage irrigation on the distribution of organochlorine pesticides in soil–groundwater systems

Abstract

Serious shortage of water resources is one of the major factors restricting the sustainable development of cropland and pasture land in northern and northwestern China. Although the reuse of wastewater for agricultural irrigation becomes a well established practice in these regions, many contaminants have been also introduced into the soil–groundwater systems such as persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). To study the influence of long-term sewage irrigation on the distribution of OCPs in soil–groundwater systems, the groundwater flow field was investigated and 31 topsoil samples, 9 boreholes, 11 sewage effluents and 34 groundwater samples were collected in Xiaodian, Taiyuan city, one of the largest sewage irrigation districts, China. During sampling, three representative types of regions were considered including effluent-irrigated area, groundwater-irrigated area served as the control field and no-irrigated area as reference “background”. The results showed over-exploitation of groundwater had changed the flow field of groundwater and wherever in soil or in groundwater, the concentration of OCPs in effluent-irrigation area presented the highest value, which indicated that the sewage irrigation had a strong influence on the distribution of OCPs in soil–groundwater systems. Principal component analysis for OCPs content in groundwater showed that the major influence factors on the occurrence and distribution of OCPs in groundwater systems attribute to the flow field of groundwater and to the current pesticide use.