Application of Bio-Solids as Soil Amendment in Arid Rangeland of Jordan
- 1 Civil Engineering Department, Al al-Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan
- 2 Freelance, Amman, Jordan
- 3 Civil Engineering Department, Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan
Abstract
Due to long drought periods and over utilizing of range lands in the arid lands of Jordan , the land is degraded and lost most of its natural vegetation. To rehabilitate the natural vegetation cover, there is a need to enhance the fertility of soil to be able to support vegetation under limited amounts of rainfall. One of the available and viable options that might be able to provide a solution for the soil poverty is applying materials with high organic contents such as biosolid. Bio-solids are nutrient-rich organic materials from the treatment of domestic sewage in a wastewater treatment facility. Bio-solids are a beneficial resource, containing essential plant nutrients and organic matter and are recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. A pilot study is designed based on randomized block design in which five treatments are used to represent the loading rates of bio-solids application. These loads were 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 ton s /ha with four replicates for the control and each application load. Samples from Bio-solid, soil and plants are tested for chemicals and microbes. Chemical tests include: As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn , while microbial tests include: total fecal Coliform, Salmonella, and Helminthes eggs. Results of total microbial count in bio-solids, soil and plant samples indicated that there were no detectable counts found in all of the experimental plots. Results showed increase in most of the heavy metals concentration in soil treated with bio-solids from that of soil in control plots ; some of these elements doubled after applying the bio-solid. For the dry plant matter, analysis for heavy metals showed that most of the heavy metals studied were below the detection limit . Only the Cr, Cu and Zn are changed but not significantly compared with the control plot. Results obtained were showed that the h ighest dry biomass value was obtained with bio-solids loading rate 40 ton s /ha and more. Increasing rate of application after 40 tons/ha did not show significant differences in the biomass yield. Also, the total nitrogen in the plants increased by 40% for all bio-solid application loads compared with the control lot.
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