Reuse of Ablution Water to Improve Peat Soil Characteristics for Ornamental Landscape Plants Cultivation

Radin Maya Saphira Radin Mohamed,Sabariah Musa,Junita Abdul Rahman,Amir Hashim Mohd Kassim,Aa Al-Gheethi,M.J Zainorizuan,O Mohamad Hanifi,L Yee Yong,R Siti Nazahiyah,L Alvin John Meng Siang,A Mohd Shalahuddin

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201710305003

Abstract

The present study aimed to reuse of ablution water for washing peat soil in order to reduce the concentrations of heavy metals in these soils which might effect negatively on the plant growth. The washing process design was similar to horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSFCW) consist of layers of peat and sand soil and surrounded by gravel on both sides. Strelitzia sp. was used to detect the presence negative effect of the washing process on the morphological characteristics of the plants. The physical and chemical characteristics of ablution water was examined before and after the washing process by using Inductively Couple Plasma- Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). The characteristics of peat soil before and after the washing process were examined by using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). The results revealed that the percentage of FeO3in peat soil reduced from 45.80 to 1.01%. The percentage of SiO2 in sand soil dropped from 87.7 to 67.10%. Parameters of ablution water resulted from the washing process which including Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and heavy metals have increased but still within the standard limits for the disposal of ablution water into the environment. No atrophy was observed in Strelitzia sp. leaves, indicating the ability of plant to grow normally. It can be concluded that the utilization of ablution water in the washing of peat soil has improve the characteristics of the soil without effect on their organic constitutes.

Highlights

Peat soil is a class of soils which has between 50 and 75% of organic matter and formed in natural environments due to the slow decay of materials [1]
The characteristics of peat soil which included heavy metals and acidity will be improved by the washing process using ablution water to be more applicable for the cultivation purpose and this emphasize the novelty of the work
The characteristics of peat soil before and after washing process conducted using X-Ray Fluorescence technique revealed that the peat soil has higher concentrations of Fe2O3 andK2O than the sand soil, in contrast, sand soil has higher concentrations of SiO2 than peat soil (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Peat soil is a class of soils which has between 50 and 75% of organic matter and formed in natural environments due to the slow decay of materials [1]. The water quality parameters of ablution water including Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and are within the standards limits of Environmental Quality Act 1974for the disposal, and it is usually flowed directly to the drain These wastes might be used with an efficient for the peat soil washing and this is the focus of the current work which aimed to examine a design similar in the structure to the horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSFCW) and consisted of two layers including peat and sand soil and surrounded by gravel on both sides. The characteristics of peat soil which included heavy metals and acidity will be improved by the washing process using ablution water to be more applicable for the cultivation purpose and this emphasize the novelty of the work

Methods

Results

Conclusion