The effects of municipal treated wastewater and sludge on some vegetative characteristics of Nitraria Schoberi

Abstract

The present study investigates the effect of treated wastewater and sludge on some vegetative characteristics of the Nitraria schoberi plant. This study was conducted in a randomized block template using several treatments include five levels of irrigation with wastewater (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%), two types of soil (arable land and desert soil of Meighan desert area), and two levels of sludge (presence and absence of sludge) with 6 repetitions for each treatment. SPSS software was used to perform the statistical analysis of plant morphological characteristics. The results showed that the highest increase in height, collar diameter, and the crown cover was observed when a wastewater level of 100% was applied in the catchment basin soil of the Meighan desert at both presence and absence treatment of sludge. However, the same characteristics of Nitraria schoberi plant for cropland soils in the present treatment of sludge were at wastewater level of 100% and in the absence treatment of sludge for plant height, collar diameter and crown cover diameter were at wastewater level of 50%, 100%, and 75%, respectively. According to the results, different levels of wastewater have a significant impact on Nitraria schoberi plant height and crown cover diameter (P<0.01(. But different treatments did not show a significant difference in the collar diameter of the Nitraria schoberi plant. We can conclude that the use of wastewater should have a favorable effect on plants and soils of the desert area and should protect soil and water resources, but the environmental impact of treatments should be examined.