Short-Term Impacts of Gray Water Irrigation on Soil Characteristics in Land-Treatment Vegetation Filters

This study on soil quality parameters was conducted from December 2008 to July 2010 to see the short-term impacts of gray water irrigation on physical and chemical properties of soil. The results envisaged slight positive impacts of wastewater irrigation on upper soil layers (0-30 cm) with an increase in soil organic matter (SOM) from 1.45% to 1.89% and nutrient content increases from 199 to 267 kg ha(-1) nitrogen (N), from 12.4 to 27.1 kg ha(-1) phosphorus (P), and from 131 to 136 kg ha(-1) potassium (K). Slight changes were also recorded in the soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC), which increased from 6.39 to 6.81 and 145 to 229 mu S cm(-1) respectively, in the upper soil layers. The soil bulk density (BD) slightly decreased to 1.34 g cm(3) in the treatment plot from 1.45 g cm(3) at the commencement of the trial, which indicates good soil conditioning under the gray water irrigation trial.