EFFECT OF THE WAY OF UTILIZATION AND THE LEVEL OF FERTILIZATION ON THE QUALITY OF LEACHATE WATER PART I. THE CONCENTRATION OF MINERAL COMPONENTS IN LEACHATE WATER

The investigations were conducted in Czarny Potok on the slope of Jaworzyna Krynicka (650 m above sea level, 20 degrees 55 ' 32 '' E, 49 degrees 24 ' 51 '' N). The experimental field was located on the brown, acid soil of the loamy sand granulometric composition, characterized with medium potassium concentration and very poor in phosphorus. Three different parts, as regards plant coverage, were distinguished in the experimental area: the grassland, the arable land and the forest. Analysing the monthly course, higher ammonia and nitrate nitrogen concentration could be noticed during the autumn, when the vegetation process is inhibited and the nitrate uptake less intensive. The phosphorus level in water was very low and ranged from several to a few dozen hundredth part of mg . dm(-3). When potassium, calcium and magnesium content in leachate water is taken into consideration it can be stated that it is affected by the amount of rainfall. The calcium and magnesium level in leachate water during the summer months is also influenced by the more intensive nitrification. Hydrogen ions from the sorptive complex displace the calcium and magnesium ions, which are transported with the rain water deep into the soil profile. Leachate waters from the particular variants differed as regards nitrate nitrogen, potassium, calcium and magnesium content. The highest level of these components was observed for leachate water from the arable land and from the forest.