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Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan 65174, Iran
Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Box 30003 MSC 3Q, Skeen Hall Room N336, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, USA
Received 11 February 2007; received in revised form 18 October 2007; accepted 13 January 2008
Available online 19 March 2008
Abstract
Organic wastes are considered to be a source for the potentially pathogenic microorganisms found in surface and sub-surface water resources.
Following their release from the organic waste matrix, bacteria often infiltrate into soil and may be transported to significant depths contaminating aquifers. We investigated the influence of soil texture and structure and most importantly the organic waste properties on the transport and
filtration coefficients of Escherichia coli and total bacteria in undisturbed soil columns. Intact soil columns (diameter 16 cm and height 25 cm)
were collected from two soils: sandy clay loam (SCL) and loamy sand (LS) in Hamadan, western Iran. The cores were amended with cow manure, poultry manure and sewage sludge at a rate of 10 Mg ha1 (dry basis). The amended soil cores were leached at a steady-state flux of
4.8 cm h1 (i.e. 0.12 of saturated hydraulic conductivity of the SCL) to a total volume of up to 4 times the pore volume of the columns.
The influent (C0) and effluent (C ) were sampled at similar time intervals during the experiments and bacterial concentrations were measured
by the plate count method. Cumulative numbers of the leached bacteria, filtration coefficient (lf), and relative adsorption index (SR) were calculated. The preferential pathways and stable structure of the SCL facilitated the rapid transport and early appearance of the bacteria in the
effluent. The LS filtered more bacteria when compared with the SCL. The effluent contamination of poultry manure-treated columns was greater
than the cow manure- and sewage sludge-treated ones. The difference between cow manure and sewage sludge was negligible. The lf and SR
values for E. coli and total bacteria were greater in the LS than in the SCL. This indicates a predominant role for the physical pore-obstruction
filtration mechanisms as present in the poorly structured LS vs. the retention at adsorptive sites (chemical filtration) more likely in the better
structured SCL. While the results confirmed the significant role of soil structure and preferential (macroporous) pathways, manure type was
proven to have a major role in determining the maximum penetration risk of bacteria by governing filtration of bacteria. Thus while the numbers
of bacteria in waste may be of significance for shallow aquifers, the type of waste may determine the risk for microbial contamination of deep
aquifers.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Adsorption; E. coli; Breakthrough curve; Filtration; Waste; Preferential flow; Soil structure
1. Introduction
Livestock manures have been long considered as beneficial
amendments that enhance soil physical and chemical conditions relevant for plant growth. However, they also release
bacteria such as strains and variants of Salmonella, Shigella
731
732
Table 1
Physical properties of the studied soils (average for 10e35 cm layer)
Sand (g g1) Silt (g g1) Clay (g g1) BD (Mg m3) PD (Mg m3) TP (cm3 cm3) Macro-P (cm3 cm3) Micro-P (cm3 cm3) MWD (mm) Ks (cm h1)
Sandy clay loam soil
0.55
0.22
0.23
1.13
2.63
0.570
0.160
0.410
3.77
39.5
0.08
1.46
2.60
0.441
0.143
0.298
2.33
70.6
BD bulk density; PD particle density; TP total porosity; Macro-P macro-porosity; Micro-P micro-porosity, MWD mean weight diameter of soil aggregates, Ks saturated hydraulic conductivity.
Table 2
Chemical properties of the studied soils (average for 10e35 cm layer)
pH
SAR
CaCO3
(g 100 g1)
OC
(g 100 g1)
DOC
(g 100 g1)
CEC
(cmolc kg1)
K
(mg L1)
Na
(mg L1)
Mg2
(mg L1)
Ca2
(mg L1)
7.5
0.33
21.0
0.98
0.09
17.3
16.3
10.9
21.6
60.0
7.5
0.13
4.0
0.81
0.36
10.3
6.3
4.0
21.6
48.0
I
(mmol L1)
EC
(dS m1)
I ionic strength of soil solution (I 0.013EC1:1); EC electrical conductivity; pH acidity; SAR sodium adsorption ratio; CaCO3 calcium carbonate content; OC organic carbon content; DOC dissolved organic carbon content; CEC cation exchange capacity; K, Na, Mg2 and Ca2 are soluble cations.
Soil
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
0.300
0.342
6
4.8
14.0
5025
1720
0.208
0.311
4
4.8
15.4
5025
1557
733
734
Table 4
Chemical properties of the tested wastes
Property
Cow
manure
Poultry
manure
Sewage
sludge
3.00
780.0
8.4
2.5
8.1
77.7
5.4
4000
144.6
57.6
168
2.10
546.0
7.0
7.0
7.7
76.4
3.6
1950
128.9
43.2
720
0.26
67.6
7.7
7.7
6.8
24.6
0.72
7.8
4.4
100.8
96
C0 C Cb dV
ZVmax
C0 dV
0
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
a
LS
SCL
C0
0.5
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
1.5
2.5
3.5
LS
SCL
C0
0
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
0.5
LS
SCL
C0
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
LS
SCL
C0
0
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
c
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
Log Concentration
(CFU ml-1)
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
LS
SCL
C0
4.5
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
735
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
LS
SCL
C0
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
Fig. 3. Breakthrough curves of total bacterial concentrations released from different manures and manure-treated soil columns: (a) cow manure, (b) poultry
manure and (c) sewage sludge. LS, SCL and C0 stand for loamy sand soil,
sandy clay loam soil and inlet concentration of total bacteria, respectively.
the soil correlated to its high ionic strength, soluble cations, and
soluble and suspended organic particulates (Table 4).
The significance of wastes on bacterial filtration in the SCL
was diminished because of the dominant impact of macroporous pathways (Figs. 2 and 3). The early appearance of bacteria in the effluent was obvious for poultry manure-treated SCL
columns (Figs. 2b and 3b). The C of poultry manure-treated
SCL columns had an initially increasing trend and after 0.3
PV, it varied little. The C of sewage sludge-treated columns
considerably decreased after 0.3 PV. Sewage sludge had low
ionic strength and soluble and/or suspended organics so that
it quickly released the bacteria.
3.2. Cumulative number of leached E. coli and total
bacteria
The influences of soil type and organic waste type, and
their interactions on cumulative number of E. coli and total
bacteria passing through the soil columns were significant
736
Table 5
Mean comparisons of cumulative number (CFU) of leached E. coli and total bacteria as influenced by soil and manure treatments
Soil
E. coli
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Total bacteria
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Manure
Cow manure
Poultry manure
Sewage sludge
17 108
16 108
11 108
13 108
49 108
27 108
24 109
13 109
66 108
35 108
bacteria, but the difference was not significant between cow manure and sewage sludge (Table 5). Bradford et al. (2006a) compared the somatic Coliphage transport in the presence and
absence of manure suspension. The results revealed the survival
of pathogen and much higher effluent concentrations in the
presence of manure. The difference was attributed to lower inactivation and higher detachment rates. While inactivation
mechanisms for bacteria are different from the ones for Coliphages, the higher detachment rates in the presence of manure
components may be of significance for both groups of
microorganisms.
The suspended organic particulates offer appropriate loci
for bacterial sorption which eventually enhance bacterial
movement (Unc and Goss, 2003). Conversely, suspended organic particulates might clog the bacteria-transmitting pores
and capture more bacteria within the soil. The interactive effect on the effluent pollution was significant (Table 5). It appears that the organic waste effect on bacterial transport was
minimized in the SCL columns due to dominant role of bypass
flow. However, bacterial transport was retarded in the LS for
all organic waste treatments.
3.3. Bacterial filtration coefficient
Organic waste type had a significant impact on the filtration
coefficient (lf) for E. coli. However, the soil type had a significant effect on lf for total bacteria (Table 6). It is presumed
that variations in cell properties resulted in significant differences in the transport phenomena among microorganisms.
The mean lf values of E. coli and total bacteria for the LS
were 1.2 and 1.3 times higher than the corresponding values
for the SCL, respectively. However, the differences between
soils were only significant for the filtration coefficients of total
bacteria (Table 6). Generally, the LS retained more bacteria,
which is in agreement with Unc and Goss (2003). Foppen
et al. (2005) also found that straining in dead-end pores was
an important process in fine-grained sediment. For the structured SCL, the water velocity is very high in the cracks and
macropores which would limit the bacterial adsorption or
E. coli
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Total bacteria
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Manure
Cow
manure
Poultry
manure
Sewage
sludge
0.35 (0.38)
1.06 (0.13)
0.71
Soil (S )
2.37 (0.44)
3.17 (1.02)
2.77
Manure (M )
2.22 (1.14)
1.63 (0.40)
1.93
SM
0.96
1.54
1.79
2.26 (1.31)
3.40 (1.12)
2.83
Soil (S )
2.32 (0.42)
3.09 (1.1)
2.71
Manure (M )
2.06 (1.29)
2.36 (1.16)
2.21
SM
0.68
1.85
2.16
737
1.65
1.95
2.21
2.95
E. coli
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Total bacteria
Sandy clay loam
Loamy sand
X
LSD (0.05)
Manure
Cow manure
Poultry manure
Sewage sludge
0.08 (0.09)
0.23 (0.03)
0.16
Soil (S )
0.44 (0.06)
0.53 (0.13)
0.49
Manure (M )
0.41 (0.17)
0.34 (0.07)
0.38
SM
0.16
0.23
0.29
0.41 (0.20)
0.56 (0.11)
0.49
Soil (S )
0.44 (0.06)
0.53 (0.14)
0.49
Manure (M )
0.38 (0.21)
0.43 (0.17)
0.41
SM
0.04
0.58
0.31
0.31
0.37
0.41
0.51
738
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