Abstract
Treated wastewater produces sewage sludge as a by-product that may have beneficial implications on agricultural practices. The effects of sludge amendments on growth, morphological and biochemical characteristics of the agro-industrial Tomato cultivar Rio Grande were observed. A pot culture experiment was carried out during 4 months (16 February 2019 to 18 June 2019), at an experimental green house in the locality of Salah Soufi, Guelma, north-eastern Algeria. There were significant differences between soil and sewage sludge samples. Total nitrogen (20.58 mg/kg) was more available in sewage sludge than in soil (N = 2.09 ± 0.3 mg/kg). In contrast, sludge contained less phosphorus and organic matter than soil. The observation of the morphological characteristics of the plants showed significant variations between the treatments. The germination rates for treated soils decreased significantly to reach 50%, compared to the control. Growth patterns (dry and fresh weight of leaves and roots) changed significantly (P <0.05) between the treatments. Chlorophyll contents of plants in treated soils were more than twice as high as those of the control, but started decreasing at 75% amendment rates.
Highlights
When wastewater from different sources is treated at a wastewater treatment facility, it goes through several processes, one of which include separation of sewage sludge from the effluent (Grobelak et al, 2019)
Chlorophyll content expressed as mg/g was estimated according to the method of McKinney (1941)
Our results showed a significantly negative effect, where the highest germination rate was observed with control while, the lowest percentage of seed germination was observed with the highest amendment rate
Summary
When wastewater from different sources is treated at a wastewater treatment facility, it goes through several processes, one of which include separation of sewage sludge from the effluent (Grobelak et al, 2019). For that reason, managed properly, use of sewage sludge is an inevitable step in environmental conservation plans (Grobelak et al, 2019). The main disposal strategy for sewage sludge management is reuse, mainly for agricultural or landscaping purposes. There are many strategies to reuse sewage sludge and many restrictions on the use of the given management method (Martinez et al, 2003). Several studies have indicated that crop production has benefitted from land application of sewage sludge (Kacprzak et al, 2017; Rulkens, 2007)
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