Dehydrogenase and catalase activity of soil irrigated with municipal wastewater
Brzezinska M, Stepniewska Z, Stepniewski W
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Brzezinska M, Polish Acad Sci, Inst Agrophys, Ul Doswiadczalna 4, PL-20290 Lublin 27, Poland
Polish Acad Sci, Inst Agrophys, PL-20290 Lublin 27, Poland
Catholic Univ Lublin, PL-20551 Lublin, Poland
Tech Univ Lublin, PL-20618 Lublin, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2001;10(5):307-311
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ABSTRACT
Dehydrogenase and catalase activities were measured in a Eutric Histosol irrigated with municipal wastewaters (Lublin, Poland) purified by a two-step (mechanical and biological) treatment. Soil enzyme activity was used to test the biochemical status of the soil-plant system, the last step of wastewater purification. Three experimental fields, each of I ha area, were planted with Populus nigra, Salix americana, and grasses (with Alopecurus pratensis, Phalaris arundinacea, Festuca pratensis as dominating species). The fields were divided into three parts: not flooded control (A), flood-irrigated 10 times per year with 60-75 mm (B), and flood-irrigated 10 times per year with 120-150 mm (C) of wastewater per irrigation. The enzyme activity was measured several times during the first 2 years of wastewater application in soil sampled from control and flooded plots (0-10, 10-30, 30-50, 50-70 cm depth). Simultaneously, redox potential at the same depths was measured with permanently installed Pt electrodes. Irrigation with municipal wastewater elevated soil dehydrogenase activity on average by 44% and 27% for the low and high irrigation doses, respectively, but reduced catalase activity at the high irrigation dose on average by 12.4% (significant at P < 0.001). Plant cover significantly influenced soil dehydrogenase and catalase activities.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.