Sewage sludge ditch for recovering heavy metals can improve crop yield and soil environmental quality

Highlights

• Indirect use of sludge in ditches alongside plants was tested in field experiments.

• The dried and stabilized sludge in ditches was recovered with heavy metals.

• Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn in the planted soil were all in a safe range.

• The indirect use of sludge increased plant yield, soil N content and C storage.

Abstract

The treatment and disposal of municipal sewage sludge (MSS) is an urgent problem to be resolved in many countries. Safely using the nutrients within MSS to increase crop yield and enhance the fertility of poor soil could contribute to achieving sustainable development. An indirect use of MSS in ditches alongside Pennisetum hybridum plants was studied in field plots for 30 months and the contents of heavy metals and macronutrients were monitored in soil, sludge and plant samples. We found that the yield of P. hybridum was significantly increased by 2.39 to 2.80 times and the treated plants had higher N content compared with no sludge. In addition, the organic matter (OM) and N contents in the planted soil increased significantly compared with the initial soil. The OM content in the planted soil of the MSS treatment was 2.9 to 5.2 times higher than that with no sludge, and N increased by 2.0 to 3.8 times. However, MSS had no significant effect on the N, P and K contents in the soil at the bottom of the MSS ditch, and the content of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn) were also within the safe range. Moreover, the moisture content and phytotoxicity of MSS after this indirect use were reduced and the heavy metal contents changed little, which is favorable to the further disposal of recovered MSS. Therefore, this indirect use of MSS is beneficial to agricultural production, soil quality and environmental sustainability.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Municipal sewage sludge / Indirect use / Heavy metals / Macronutrients / Pennisetum hybridum

References

[1] Akbar M, Khan M F S, Qian L, Qian L, Wang H (2020). Degradation of Polyacrylamide (PAM) and methane production by mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion: Effect of temperature and concentration. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 14(6), 98

[2] Antonkiewicz J, Kołodziej B, Bielińska E J, Popławska A (2019). The possibility of using sewage sludge for energy crop cultivation exemplified by reed canary grass and giant miscanthus. Soil Science Annual, 70(1): 21–33

[3] Antonkiewicz J, Poplawska A, Kolodziej B, Ciarkowska K, Gambus F, Bryk M, Babula J (2020). Application of ash and municipal sewage sludge as macronutrient sources in sustainable plant biomass production. Journal of Environmental Management, 264: 110450

[4] Breton V, Crosaz Y, Rey F (2016). Effects of wood chip amendments on the revegetation performance of plant species on eroded marly terrains in a Mediterranean mountainous climate (Southern Alps, France). Solid Earth, 7(2): 599–610

[5] Gong Z T, Chen Z C, Shi X Z, Zhang G L, Zhang J M, Zhao W J (1999) Chinese soil taxonomy: Theory, methodology and practice. Beijing: Science Press (in Chinese)

[6] Grönman K, Ypya J, Virtanen Y, Kurppa S, Soukka R, Seuri P, Finer A, Linnanen L (2016). Nutrient footprint as a tool to evaluate the nutrient balance of a food chain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112: 2429–2440

[7] Hei L, Lee C C, Wang H, Lin X Y, Chen X H, Wu Q T (2016). Using a high biomass plant Pennisetum hydridum to phyto-treat fresh municipal sewage sludge. Bioresource Technology, 217: 252–256

[8] Herzel H, Kruger O, Hermann L, Adam C (2016). Sewage sludge ash–A promising secondary phosphorus source for fertilizer production. Science of the Total Environment, 542(Pt B): 1136–1143

[9] Kuzyakov Y, Bol R (2006). Sources and mechanisms of priming effect induced in two grassland soils amended with slurry and sugar. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 38(4): 747–758

[10] Liu A S, Liu S J, He Y G, Zhu S Q, Li B Q (1993). Guangdong Soils. Beijing: Science Press

[11] Liu S (2012). Safe recycling municipal sewage sludge in agriculture and forestry with sludge phyto-treatment. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Guangzhou: South China Agricultural University

[12] Liu S, Xu T, Wu Q, Lv H, Lin X, Li Y (2012). Selection of vegetable seeds native in China instead of the cress seed for evaluating the maturity of biosolids. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 32(5): 1510–1518

[13] Liu Y J, Zhu Y G, Ding H (2007). Lead and cadmium in leaves of deciduous trees in Beijing, China: Development of a metal accumulation index (MAI). Environmental Pollution, 145(2): 387–390

[14] Lu R K (2000). Analytical Methods of Soil and Agricultural Chemistry. Beijing: China Agricultural Science and Technology Press

[15] Ma C, Ming H, Lin C, Naidu R, Bolan N (2016). Phytoextraction of heavy metal from tailing waste using Napier grass. Catena, 136: 74–83

[16] Ma C, Naidu R, Liu F, Lin C, Ming H (2012). Influence of hybrid giant Napier grass on salt and nutrient distributions with depth in a saline soil. Biodegradation, 23(6): 907–916

[17] Mamedov A I, Bar-Yosef B, Levkovich I, Rosenberg R, Silber A, Fine P, Levy G J (2016). Amending soil with sludge, manure, humic acid, orthophosphate and phytic acid: Effects on infiltration, runoff and sediment loss. Land Degradation & Development, 27(6): 1629–1639

[18] Meng X Z, Venkatesan A K, Ni Y L, Steele J C, Wu L L, Bignert A, Bergman A, Halden R U (2016). Organic contaminants in Chinese sewage sludge: A meta-analysis of the literature of the past 30 years. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(11): 5454–5466

[19] Mohamed B, Mounia K, Aziz A, Ahmed H, Rachid B, Lotfi A (2018). Sewage sludge used as organic manure in Moroccan sunflower culture: Effects on certain soil properties, growth and yield components. Science of the Total Environment, 627: 681–688

[20] Moreno-Jiménez E, Fernández J M, Puschenreiter M, Williams P N, Plaza C (2016). Availability and transfer to grain of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in a barley agri-system: Impact of biochar, organic and mineral fertilizers. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 219: 171–178

[21] Riaz U, Murtaza G, Saifullah, Farooq M (2018). Influence of different sewage sludges and composts on growth, yield, and trace elements accumulation in rice and wheat. Land Degradation & Development, 29(5): 1343–1352

[22] Rittmann B E, Mayer B, Westerhoff P, Edwards M (2011). Capturing the lost phosphorus. Chemosphere, 84(6): 846–853

[23] Sun Y, Jin B, Wu W, Zuo W, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Huang Y (2015). Effects of temperature and composite alumina on pyrolysis of sewage sludge. Journal of Environmental Sciences (China), 30(04): 1–8

[24] Tejada M, Benítez C (2014). Effects of crushed maize straw residues on soil biological properties and soil restoration. Land Degradation & Development, 25(5): 501–509

[25] Tontti T, Poutiainen H, Heinonen-Tanski H (2017). Efficiently treated sewage sludge supplemented with nitrogen and potassium is a good fertilizer for cereals. Land Degradation & Development, 28(2): 742–751

[26] Urbaniak M, Wyrwicka A, Toloczko W, Serwecinska L, Zielinski M (2017). The effect of sewage sludge application on soil properties and willow (Salix sp.) cultivation. Science of the Total Environment, 586: 66–75

[27] USEPA (1994). A Plain English Guide to the EPA Part 503 Biosolids Rule. EPA-832/R-93/003, 57–79. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wastewater Management, Washington, DC, US. September 1994

[28] Wu D, Chu S, Lai C, Mo Q, Jacobs D F, Chen X, Zeng S (2017). Application rate and plant species affect the ecological safety of sewage sludge as a landscape soil amendment. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27: 138–147

[29] Wyrwicka A, Urbaniak M (2018). The biochemical response of willow plants (Salix viminalis L.) to the use of sewage sludge from various sizes of wastewater treatment plant. Science of the Total Environment, 615: 882–894

[30] Xu T F, Qiu J R, Wu Q T, Guo X F, Wei Z B, Xie F W, Wong J W C (2013). Fate of heavy metals and major nutrients in a sludge-soil-plant-leachate system during the sludge phyto-treatment process. Environmental Technology, 34(15): 2221–2229

[31] Yang Y, Li H (2016). Recovering humic substances from the dewatering effluent of thermally treated sludge and its performance as an organic fertilizer. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 10(3): 578–584

[32] Yu B, Zheng G, Wang X, Wang M, Chen T (2019). Biodegradation of triclosan and triclocarban in sewage sludge during composting under three ventilation strategies. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 13(1), 41 doi:10.1007/s11783-019-1125-4

[33] Zhang H, Xu L, Zhang Y, Jiang M (2016). The transformation of PAHs in the sewage sludge incineration treatment. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 10(2): 336–340

[34] Zhu Y, Zhao Y (2011). Stabilization process within a sewage sludge landfill determined through both particle size distribution and content of humic substances as well as by FT-IR analysis. Waste Management & Research, 29(4): 379–385

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by R and D program of Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, China (Nos. 2019BT02L218 and 2018B030324003); Water Resources Innovation Project of Guangdong Province, China (Nos. 2017-07 and 2017-29); National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21606092), Pearl River S and T Nova Program of Guangzhou, China (No. 201710010109).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2020 Higher Education Press