Uludağ University Journal of The Faculty of Engineering (Jun 2015)
Wastewater Irrigation: Persistent Organic Pollutans in Soil and Product
Abstract
Treated or untreated wastewaters, used for irrigation purpose, contain various persistent organic pollutants. The long use of these waters for irrigation purpose results in deposition of the pollutants in soil, contaminates products and has adverse health affect on the human through food chain, and biologic activity of flora and fauna. The wastewaters of Konya were conveyed to the Salt Lake through the main drainage channel without any treatment until 2010. During the arid period, the wastewater in the main drainage channel was used for irrigation and the products were cultivated. In this work, persistent organic pollutants i.e., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, acenaphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, benzo[g,h,i]perylene) are determined in wastewater irrigated agricultural soil samples and the wheat samples cultivated in the region. High alkaline properties and clay structure of Konya soil were determined. These properties of soil result in the accumulation of contaminants in top soil layer used for agricultural production. On the other hand, PCB and PAH compounds were determined in comparable concentrations in well water irrigated reference soils with wastewater irrigated soils. PCB and PAH sources other than wastewater irrigation was evidenced for the study field.
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