USE OF BREWERY WASTEWATER AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOIL PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES UNDER GREENHOUSE CONDITIONS

Abstract

Brewing industry in Peru has increased markedly during the last eight years, subsequently increasing the production of solid and liquid organic wastes. Due to its organic nature, most of those wastes can be used in agriculture as sources of organic matter for soil. A pot experiment was set up to evaluate the effect of fractionated application of brewery wastewater (BW) at increasing levels (0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 L kg-1) on physical and chemical properties of two different-textured soils: Sandy Loam and Fine Sand, collected from the central coast of Peru. Pots were irrigated with BW was applied twice a week during eight weeks and then soils were incubated for two months. Soil pH, electrical conductivity, bulk density, water holding capacity and the contents of total and labile organic carbon, total nitrogen and lead were evaluated. Bulk density was not affected by BW application in any soil but water holding capacity was increased both in Sandy Loam and Fine Sand. Soil pH gradually decreased as the rate of application of BW increased but the electrical conductivity was not affected by application rate. Total organic carbon and total nitrogen contents in the Sandy Loam soil were significantly increased by the application of 0.5 and 1.0 L kg-1 while labile organic carbon was increased by 1.0 L kg-1. In the Fine Sand the content of total organic carbon was significantly increased by the application of 0.5 and 1.0 L kg-1. Total nitrogen and active organic carbon contents were increased by all rates higher than 0.125 L kg-1. The relative increase in total carbon was higher for the Fine Sand than for the Sandy Loam. The application of BW did not affect Pb content on the soils. Our results showed that the use of brewery wastewater as organic source can be suitable for arid soils of the Peruvian coast.