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Properties of the DOM in Soil Irrigated with Wastewater Effluent and Its Interaction with Copper Ions

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Abstract

DOM samples extracted from a wastewater effluent (EW) and from leachates collected from lysimeters in which Eucalyptus trees were deficit-irrigated with either EW (EL) or with water pumped from an aquifer recharged with the EW (TL) were studied. As ascertained by principal component analysis, DOM from both leachates displayed similar properties, different from those of the EW DOM. 1H-NMR and FTIR spectra of the > 1-kDa DOM size fraction of the EW revealed less aromaticity than this fraction of either leachate. 3-D fluorescence maps indicated that the density of nitro, carboxyl, or phenol groups attached to aromatic structures was lowest in the EW DOM and only that DOM displayed protein-like fluorescence peaks. The leachates’ DOM > 1 kDa fraction complexed more Cu2+ per unit C than this fraction of the EW (Kd = ~ 105 and ~ 104 L kg−1 DOC, respectively, at ~ 10−5 M free Cu2+). While Cu complexed preferentially with non-fluorescing sites in the EW DOM, in the leachates’ DOM, Cu bound primarily with fluorescing (aromatic) groups or with adjacent groups. The similar behavior displayed by DOM from leachates obtained under irrigation with either EW or reclaimed water suggests that processes occurring in the soil (e.g., by roots or microbiota) influenced the soil DOM’s properties to a larger extent than the nature of OM in the irrigation water. Thus, irrigation with good quality secondary effluent should not significantly enhance heavy metal mobility as compared to their mobility under irrigation with higher quality water.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel, for the financial support and Mekorot–Israel Water Company and the Dan Region Cities Sewage Association for providing the site and water. Special thanks are due to Dr. Hillary Voet for performing the PCA and her invaluable support in all statistical aspects of the work; to Shoshi Suriano, Rivka Rosenberg, and Yosi Moshe for their invaluable technical help; and to Tibor Markowitz for his dedicated maintenance of the experimental facility.

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  1. A. Hass

    Present address: Agricultural and Environmental Research Station, West Virginia State University, Institute, WV, 25112-1000, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Department of Soil Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, 68 HaMacabim Rd, PO Box 15159, 7528809, Rishon Lezion, Israel

    P. Fine, M. Borisover, R. Hayat, A. Beriozkin, A. Hass & U. Mingelgrin

  2. The Nathan Cummings Chair for Natural Products in Medicine, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    S. Carmeli

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Electronic Supplementary Material

Online Resource 1

1H-NMR spectra of the investigated DOM samples. EW- secondary effluent; TL- reclaimed water leachate; EL- effluent leachate. a: size fraction >1 kDa; b. size fraction 1 kDa > DOM < 200 Da. (PPTX 218 kb)

Online Resource 2

FTIR spectra of the investigated DOM samples. EW - effluent; TL - reclaimed water leachate; EL - effluent leachate. a: size fraction >1 kDa; b. size fraction 1 kDa > DOM < 200 Da. (PPTX 161 kb)

Online Resource 3

Comparison of fluorescence maps before and after adding Cu (pCu = 3.5). EW- secondary effluent; TL- reclaimed water leachate; EL- effluent leachate. a: size fraction >1 kDa; b. size fraction 1 kDa > DOM < 200 Da. (PPTX 421 kb)

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Fine, P., Carmeli, S., Borisover, M. et al. Properties of the DOM in Soil Irrigated with Wastewater Effluent and Its Interaction with Copper Ions. Water Air Soil Pollut 229, 2 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3627-7

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