HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Burton, T. M. Articles by Hook, J. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Burton, T. M. Articles by Hook, J. E. Agricola Articles by Burton, T. M. Articles by Hook, J. E.

A Mass Balance Study of Application of Municipal Waste Water to Forests in Michigan¹

ABSTRACT

A mass balance study of the effects of secondary municipal waste water on phosphorus and nitrogen cycling was conducted in 1976 and 1977 on three 1.2-ha plots in a late successional, sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.)-beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) forest in southern Michigan. The treatments included an unirrigated control plot and 5- and 10-cm/week waste water application plots. The 10-cm/week site was deliberately overloaded hydraulically. Chloride concentrations at the 150-cm depth on the waste water application plots did not approach input concentrations until the end of the 1976 irrigation season. Thus, 1977 data are emphasized in mass balance calculations. About 96% of the added inorganic nitrogen from 5 cm/week of waste water application leached past the root zone. Application of 10 cm/week waste water increased inorganic nitrogen "retention" on a mass balance basis to 69% of input apparently as a result of denitrification under anaerobic conditions in the water-logged soils. However, the 10-cm/week application resulted in nitrate concentrations approaching those of waste water input concentrations during peak runoff periods. The 10-cm/week application also resulted in death of trees in the lower areas of the forest where water tended to pool. Phosphorus retention by the system was 96.5% at an application rate of 5 cm/week but decreased to 66% when the irrigation rate was increased to 10 cm/week as a result of runoff losses. Changes in soils included increased available phosphorus and exchangeable magnesium and potassium in the top 15 cm of soil and increased sodium and chloride concentrations throughout the 150-cm depth sampled.

Key Words: nitrate leaching • phosphorus retention • sugar maple-beech forest • organic nitrogen budgets • runoff losses

¹ Contribution from the Inst. of Water Res. and Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State Univ. This work was supported by Grant R005I43-0I from he USEPA and carried out as part of the Pilot Watershed Program (Task C) of the International Pollution from Land Use Activities Reference Group (PLUARG) of the International Joint Commission, Windsor, Ontario.

² Associate Professor, Inst. of Water Res., Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824, and Assistant Professor, Agronomy Dep., Coastal Plains Exp. Stn., Tifton, GA 31794, respectively.

Received for publication September 15, 1978.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Barton, L. A. Schipper, G. F. Barkle, M. McLeod, T. W. Speir, M. D. Taylor, A. C. McGill, A. P. van Schaik, N. B. Fitzgerald, and S. P. Pandey Land Application of Domestic Effluent onto Four Soil Types: Plant Uptake and Nutrient Leaching J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2005; 34(2): 635 - 643. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.M. Meding, L. A. Morris, C. M. Hoover, W. L. Nutter, and M. L. Cabrera Denitrification at a Long-Term Forested Land Treatment System in the Piedmont of Georgia J. Environ. Qual., July 1, 2001; 30(4): 1411 - 1420. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]