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Impact of powdered and liquid laundry detergent greywater on soil degradation
- Source :
- Journal of Hydrology. 595:126059
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Pressure on freshwater resources has resulted in greater greywater reuse for irrigation. Laundry greywater is one of the largest yet potentially soil damaging streams of domestic greywater. There is limited research on the susceptibility of soils with various properties to degradation by laundry greywater. Thus the aim of this laboratory study was to investigate the effect of typical liquid and powdered laundry detergent greywater application on humus removal and hydraulic conductivity on a range of urban soils from the Cape Town region, South Africa. Powdered detergent (PD) greywater was significantly more detrimental in terms of soil humus removal and decreasing hydraulic conductivity compared to the liquid detergent (LD) greywater attributed to its alkaline pH (pH 9.95) and 30-fold higher Na content. Sandy soils were the most susceptible to humus losses due to PD greywater application (7.5% soil C lost) while Fe oxide-rich chromic soils were the least (1.5% soil C lost). Granite-derived, kaolinitic soils were most susceptible to reduction in hydraulic conductivity (81% reduction) due to PD greywater application, while Fe-rich chromic soils were the least (47% reduction). PD greywater should not be used for irrigating soils due to its aggressive soil degrading qualities while LD greywater should be used cautiously.
- Subjects :
- Irrigation
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Laundry
0207 environmental engineering
02 engineering and technology
Pulp and paper industry
Greywater
01 natural sciences
Humus
Hydraulic conductivity
Soil retrogression and degradation
Soil water
Environmental science
020701 environmental engineering
Laundry detergent
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Water Science and Technology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00221694
- Volume :
- 595
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Hydrology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........100fcadb75829b575d5321655bd73377