Redox Processes in Soils Irrigated with Reclaimed Sewage Effluents: Field Cycles and Basic Mechanism
Authors: Banin Amos , Stucki Joseph , Kostka Joel 
Published: March 2022

The overall objectives of the project were: (a) To measure and study in situ the effect of irrigation with reclaimed sewage effluents on redox processes and related chemical dynamics in soil profiles of agricultural fields. (b) To study under controlled conditions the kinetics and equilibrium states of selected processes that affect redox conditions in field soils or that are effected by them. Specifically, these include the effects on heavy metals sorption and desorption, and the effect on pesticide degradation. On the basis of the initial results from the field study, increased effort was devoted to clarifying and quantifying the effects of plants and water regime on the soil's redox potential while the study of heavy metals sorption was limited. The use of reclaimed sewage effluents as agricultural irrigation water is increasing at a significant rate. The relatively high levels of suspended and, especially, dissolved organic matter and nitrogen in effluents may affect the redox regime in field soils irrigated with them. In turn, the changes in redox regime may affect, among other parameters, the organic matter and nitrogen dynamics of the root zone and trace organic decomposition processes. Detailed data of the redox potential regime in field plots is lacking, and the detailed mechanisms of its control are obscure and not quantified. The study established the feasibility of long-term, non-disturbing monitoring of redox potential regime in field soils. This may enable to manage soil redox under conditions of continued inputs of wastewater. The importance of controlling the degree of wastewater treatment, particularly of adding ultrafiltration steps and/or tertiary treatment, may be assessed based on these and similar results. Low redox potential was measured in a field site (Site A, KibutzGivat Brenner), that has been irrigated with effluents for 30 years and was used for 15 years for continuous commercial sod production. A permanently reduced horizon (Time weighted averaged pe= 0.33±3.0) was found in this site at the 15 cm depth throughout the measurement period of 10 months. A drastic cultivation intervention, involving prolonged drying and deep plowing operations may be required to reclaim such soils. Site B, characterized by a loamy texture, irrigated with tap water for about 20 years was oxidized (Time weighted average pe=8.1±1.0) throughout the measurement period. Iron in the solid phases of the Givat Brenner soils is chemically-reduced by irrigation. Reduced Fe in these soils causes a change in reactivity toward the pesticide oxamyl, which has been determined to be both cytotoxic and genotoxic to mammalian cells. Reaction of oxamyl with reduced-Fe clay minerals dramatically decreases its cytotoxicity and genotoxicity to mammalian cells. Some other pesticides are affected in the same manner, whereas others are affected in the opposite direction (become more cyto- and genotoxic). Iron-reducing bacteria (FeRB) are abundant in the Givat Brenner soils. FeRB are capable of coupling the oxidation of small molecular weight carbon compounds (fermentation products) to the respiration of iron under anoxic conditions, such as those that occur under flooded soil conditions. FeRB from these soils utilize a variety of Fe forms, including Fe-containing clay minerals, as the sole electron acceptor. Daily cycles of the soil redox potential were discovered and documented in controlled-conditions lysimeter experiments. In the oxic range (pe=12-8) soil redox potential cycling is attributed to the effect of the daily temperature cycle on the equilibrium constant of the oxygenation reaction of H⁺ to form H₂O, and is observed under both effluent and freshwater irrigation. The presence of plants affects considerably the redox potential regime of soils. Redox potential cycling coupled to the irrigation cycles is observed when the soil becomes anoxic and the redox potential is controlled by the Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple. This is particularly seen when plants are grown. Re-oxidation of the soil after soil drying at the end of an irrigation cycle is affected to some degree by the water quality. Surprisingly, the results suggest that under certain conditions recovery is less pronounced in the freshwater irrigated soils.