Chemical Characterization

and Environmental Implications

of Recycled Sewage Sludge
in the Proximity Soil of Treatment Plant

P. Balaganesh, M. Vasudevan, S. M. Suneethkumar, and N. Natarajan

Abstract Recycling of organic waste materials as soil amendment is a proven

sustainable practice, addressing waste management, soil fertility and crop produc-
tivity issues. However, inefficient utilization of biodegradable components as well as
inappropriate application methods limits the expected benefits of conventional soil-
waste mixing strategy. Moreover, accidental or prolong release of organic wastes in
soil can result in chronic disorder in soil nutrients distribution. Hence, it is important
to understand the environmental implications of such activities in order to optimize
the soil-waste mixing strategy. Present study aims to investigate chemical characteris-
tics of soil in the proximity of an overloaded sewage treatment plant (STP) operating
in the mode of activated sludge process at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, India and the implications of its operational and
maintenance activities on soil organic matter (SOM). Samples were collected near
the treatment units and were assessed periodically for crucial parameters like pH,
electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 –N), total
organic carbon (TOC) and chlorides. The experiment findings clearly infer that soil
in the proximity of aerators, clarifiers and sludge drying bed have high TOC, TN
and NO3 –N values due to the direct release of washing water and wasting of excess
sludge. This has resulted in significant accumulation of organic carbon (52%) and
nitrogen (79%) in the soil to the extent that partial replacement of compost with STP
soil up to 60% could replenish the soil organic matter in a sugarcane mono-cultured
soil. It is suggested that the interchanging of top soils in mono-cultured low fertile
soil with STP soil may enhance the soil fertility and promotes nutrient uptakes by
the plants.

Keywords Agriculture · Sewage treatment plant · Soil nutrients · Sewage sludge ·

Co-composting

P. Balaganesh (B) · M. Vasudevan · S. M. Suneethkumar

Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam,
Tamil Nadu 638401, India
e-mail: balachem.aec@gmail.com
N. Natarajan
Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology,
Pollachi, Tamil Nadu 642003, India

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 69

S. K. Ghosh et al. (eds.), Emerging Technologies for Waste Valorization and Environmental
Protection, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5736-1_7
70 P. Balaganesh et al.

1 Introduction

Soil is a multitude of all living creatures, decayed organic matter and dilapidated
composite mineral materials of rock (Ahmad Wani et al. 2014). Different soil types,
habitats, crops and climatic conditions represent the farming system with different
soil fertility (Tola et al. 2016). Microbes play vital role in material cycling of soil and
in turn soil quality (Luo et al. 2018). Soil investigations are the essential key in two
major fields such as construction field to assess load bearing and agricultural field
to examine nutrient uptake by the plants. It is the best approach to identify potential
fertilizer application to the specific soil (Ganorkar et al. 2013). In Indian agricultural
practices due to high productivity, numerous chemical fertilizers are rapidly replacing
the traditional manures but chemical fertilizers rigorously deteriorating the quality
of soil (Borkar 2015). Physico-chemical parameter analysis is the essential step to
all farming creations and woodland development. The quality of soil include it is
water holding capacity, carbon confiscation, plant yield, squander remediation and
other functions or even more keenly defined. Soil pH is the first and foremost soil
parameter relates most of other parameters. Acidic soil has pH less than 6, normal
soils have 6–8.5 pH and alkaline soil has pH above 8.5. High soil organic matter
(SOM) reveals low pH conditions which denote that pH is inversely proportional to
SOM content (Kekane et al. 2015; Kemal Fauzie and Ahmad 2015). In soil solution,
the soil pH inversely proportional to cationic form of metals (Van Herk 2012). The
pH influences several microorganism behaviours and nutrient values of soil (Borkar
2015; Sharma and Chaudhary 2017). The other significant parameters are carbon and
nitrogen. Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen are the various forms
of nitrogen. Proteins are synthesized by amino acids and amino acids have the vital
element nitrogen (Sharma and Chaudhary 2017). Similarly, electrical conductivity
(EC) is another simple, economic and rapid health indicator of soil (Kekane et al.
2015). Soil EC shows a relationship with soil texture, cation exchange capacity
(CEC), crop productivity and organic matter (Sharma and Chaudhary 2017). It also
indicates cationic and anionic nutrients availability (Gümüs and Seker 2017).
Soil organic matter is very important soil property, rich in SOM content minimizes
soil erosion. Best agricultural practices need sufficient SOM and it can be added
by crop residue, green manure, manures of animal, organic fertilizer, compost, etc.
Organic carbon is also soil nitrogen indicator (Borkar 2015; Kekane et al. 2015). Soil
organic matter influences the binding of metal (Van Herk 2012). SOM persuade the
exchange reactions, water relation and soil porosity and also responsible for carbon
cycle, availability of nutrients, biological and chemical processes, crop productivity
and yield (Middha et al. 2015). Deprived energy sources reduce the soil organic
carbon and nutrient mineralization. Due to this, the activity of microbial biomass is
minimized (Geetha and Reddy 2017).
Plant cells acquire nitrate nitrogen either in organic or living form (Sharma and
Chaudhary 2017). Blue green algae fix the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia.
Nitrogen is the essential plant growth stimulators of soil (Kekane et al. 2015; Kemal
Fauzie and Ahmad 2015; Chaudhari 2013). Soil degradation along with nitrogen
Chemical Characterization and Environmental Implications … 71

loss leads to environmental issues and reduced soil fertility (Gümüs and Seker
2017). Effects of agricultural systems growth, increases leaching of nitrous oxide
(N2 O), ammonia (NH3 ) and nitrate (NO3− ) from human induced global nitrogen
flow. Microorganisms availed carbon and nitrogen depends upon the soil mineraliza-
tion and immobilization rates. Typically nitrogen immobilization occurring as a result
of increased carbon nitrogen ratio (Clough et al. 2013). It is tedious to understand
apparent global carbon cycle of soil (Chapin et al. 2009). Sewage sludge contains
good nitrogen, phosphorus sources and micronutrients, and it is also superior soil
conditioner. Application of sewage sludge to agricultural practices makes ease the
waste disposal for the water treatment plants and economical. Mostly raw sewage
sludge contains the form of nitrogen as organic nitrogen and may be further vulner-
able to microbial decay on soil application. It may contain little ammonia nitrogen
but it differs based on the quantity and quality of it. Whereas in dissimilarity digested
sludge in liquid phase has a very high proportion of ammonia nitrogen due to anaer-
obic digestion of sewage sludge which mineralizes the readily degradable organic
matter. Through this, it is clear that nitrogen dynamics of sludge amended soil is
based on types of sludge (Smith and Tibbett 2004). Environmental conditions and
nitrogen deposition together may influence the soil carbon and nutrient cycling (Choi
et al. 2017).
Objective of the study is to compare the soil nutrient replenishing capacity of
contaminated soil and partially digested sludge obtained from sewage treatment
facility for low fertile native soil in mono-cultured field. The study also emphasizes
the significance of co-compost using sewage sludge for the mono-cultured sugarcane
field.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Study Area and Sampling

The study area comprises of STP located (Fig. 1) in Bannari Amman Institute of
Technology, Sathyamangalam (Lat 11.4952°N and Long 77.2764°E), Tamil Nadu,
India with 7.5 MLD installed capacity, spread around 2654 m2 area. The STP is
highly loaded with potential contaminants. In addition to this, occasionally excess
sewage sludge (overflow) after pumping into sludge drying bed is dumping into the
empty land around 4 m distance from the plant area. This leads to massive availability
of nutrients in the site area. So sampling sites were randomly chosen and listed in
ellipsis (Table 1). From the each site (0–15) cm depth, soil samples were taken
for analysis. Recycled sludge from STP periodically assessed for physico-chemical
characteristics.
72 P. Balaganesh et al.

Fig. 1 Sampling location and site map of the sewage treatment plant, Bannari Amman Institute of
Technology Sathyamangalam

Table 1 List of ellipsis and

S. No. Expansion Ellipsis
its expansion
1 Sewage treatment plant STP
2 STP front SF
3 STP right corner SRC
4 Near collection tank of STP NCT
5 Near I filter of STP NIF
6 Near I clarifier of STP NIC
7 Near II clarifier of STP NIIC
8 Near I aerator of STP NIA
9 Near II aerator of STP NIIA
10 Near sludge drying bed of STP NSD
11 Electrical conductivity EC
12 Total organic carbon TOC
13 Total nitrogen TN
14 Nitrate nitrogen NO3 –N
15 Chloride Cl
16 Soil replaced compost SRC
17 Soil organic matter SOM
Chemical Characterization and Environmental Implications … 73

2.2 Co-compost Preparation

Composting performed in three HDPE bins with 50% ratio of STP sludge and other
domestic wastes. The mixture was moistened with water to about 70% moisture
content. Bins were turned manually every 3 days and then once a week for the rest of
the 3 weeks. Water was sprayed every 2 days for maintaining the moisture content of
the bins throughout the experiment. Temperature readings were monitored daily by
inserting a thermometer probe into the bins of approximately equal length in each bin.
Moisture content also monitored daily and it was assessed by gravimetric method.
The prepared co-compost from STP sludge partially replaced with low fertile soil in
proportions 20, 40 and 60% also taken for analysis.

2.3 Chemical Analysis

Five-gram soil sample is taken for the chemical analysis. To assess pH, nitrate
nitrogen the measured soil is extracted with 50 ml 2M KCl solution (Shahandeh
et al. 2010; Amponsah et al. 2014) in orbital shaker. Further, 10-g sample is extracted
with 20 ml distilled water (1:2) to find EC, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and
chloride (Van Herk 2012; Pawan et al. 2017).
Nitrate nitrogen estimated using Systronics PC based double beam spectropho-
tometer 2202. The reagents used were nitrate stock solution, nitrate standard solution,
Brucine-sulphanilic acid solution and sulphuric acid solution. The absorbance values
of blank, standard and sample were measured at 410 nm. Elico LI120 Digital pH meter
was calibrated using buffer capsules of pH 4.0 and 9.0 then pH of samples measured.
Total organic carbon and total nitrogen measured at 680 °C using Shimadzu TOC-L
and TNM-L analyzer. The reagents used were double distilled water, 25% phos-
phoric acid and 1M HCl. Electrical conductivity measured using Elico CM 180
digital conductivity meter. It was calibrated by standard reference solution (0.01N
KCl solution, 0.0014118 mhos/cm). Amount of chlorides estimated using titrimetric
method. Potassium chromate solution and silver nitrate solution were the reagents
used. Silver nitrate solution standardized using sodium chloride solution.

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Relative Abundance of PH Range and Other Conductive

Ions Existence in Sample

Soil pH is the most crucial parameter which relates all the major physico-chemical
parameters. The best pH range of soil for the effective plant growth is 6.8–8.0 (Middha
et al. 2015). The pH values of experiment (Fig. 2) showed that mostly the soil samples
74 P. Balaganesh et al.

Fig. 2 Variation of pH and

EC in STP proximity soil

were slightly alkaline and the ranges from 7.4 to 8.2. It reveals that the soil promotes
plant growth by increasing the accumulation of soil organic carbon. Since acidic soils
cannot hold the soil organic carbon to the maximum. The minimum pH 7.4 observed
from NIIC soil and maximum pH 8.2 observed from NIA soil. Concentration of ion
in solution is reported as conductance or EC and it is the good indicator for plant
nutrient absorption (Middha et al. 2015; Wu et al. 2017). EC values observed from
0.209 to 1 mS/cm. NIF soil showed the minimum conductive ions and NIIA soil
showed maximum value of conductive ions. NIA and NIIA both showed augmented
EC values when compared to other.

3.2 Nitrate Nitrogen and Total Nitrogen Distribution

The variation of TN and NO3 –N in STP proximity soil showed in Fig. 3.

The minimum value 3.9 mg/L of NO3 –N observed from SF soil and maximum
14.297 mg/L by NIA soil. TN is minimum 11.28 mg/L in NIC soil and maximum
167.6 mg/L in NIIC soil. From the graph, it is clear that NIIC and NIA soils showed
peak NO3 –N and TN values. So the proximity of aerators and clarifiers along with
sludge drying bed is rich in plant growth stimulator nitrogen nutrients. Observed
elevated nutrient values of soil were through different mass transfer processes like
diffusion, absorption, adsorption, stripping and leaching in the proximity of STP
encumbered with nutrient rich contaminants. Nitrogen is the important nutrient which
induces plant growth. Excess nitrogen values leads to serious issues in our environ-
ment, so to protect environmental issues by runoff in STP proximity and to utilize
the nutrient for deficient areas, soil from clarifiers, aerators, sludge drying bed and
collection tank will be the best loom for interchanging.
Chemical Characterization and Environmental Implications … 75

Fig. 3 Variation of total

nitrogen (TN) and
nitrate-nitrogen (NO3 –N) in
the STP proximity soil

3.3 Spatial Variation of Total Organic Carbon and Chloride

The variation of TOC and Cl in STP proximity soil showed in Fig. 4. TOC of NIC soil
showed minimum 34.77 mg/L and maximum 134.9 mg/L TOC observed from SF
soil. Soil organic carbon reduces soil erosion, so the high TOC values of SF soil infer
its suitability. This significant result expose reduced nitrogen values are essential to
get good C/N values. Nowadays generally anthropogenic CO2 rise induces carbon
level in our ecosystem by photosynthetic carbon fixation (Choi et al. 2017). NIF soil
showed minimum 7.09 mg/L chloride value and SF soil showed maximum chloride
level 35.45 mg/L.

Fig. 4 Variation of total

organic carbon (TOC) and
chloride (Cl) in the STP
proximity soil
76 P. Balaganesh et al.

3.4 Recycled Sewage Sludge as Organic Amendment

Generally, sewage sludge has the potential to replenish soil with fertility due to
its physico-chemical characteristics along with effective microbial consortium in it.
The experiment findings of recycled sewage sludge are tabulated (Table 2) and it
reveals that contaminated sewage showed rich in nutrient level (TOC 156.11 mg/L
and TN 33.01 mg/L). Similarly, EC values 1.007 mS/cm expose that sufficient ions
presence to promote nutrients. Higher chloride values will be the risk to growth of
microorganisms and in turn it affects the nutrient levels. To remove the risk of waste
and to increase productivity using it, the sludge processed with suitable bulking
materials as high return co-compost. The low fertile NIC soil, which has similar
nutrient profile of nearby sugarcane monocultured soil, partially replaced with co-
compost prepared from sludge, and it was resulted in linear increase by 20, 40 and
60% replacement of soil (Fig. 5).

Table 2 Chemical characteristics of the sewage sludge

Sample NO3 –N Chloride TOC (mg/L) TN (mg/L) EC (mg/L) pH (mS/cm)
(mg/L) (mg/L)
Recycled 10.36 738.54 156.11 33.01 1.007 7.69
sludge

Fig. 5 Partial replacement

of low-nutrient soil (NIC
sample) with the prepared
compost
Chemical Characterization and Environmental Implications … 77

4 Conclusions

Present study dealt with chemical characteristics investigation of soil in the prox-
imity of an overloaded STP and the implications of its operational and maintenance
activities on SOM. The experiment findings clearly infer that the proximity of aera-
tors, clarifiers and sludge drying bed has high TOC, TN and NO3 –N values and
also all the samples evenly showed optimum pH ranges for the plant growth. This
consequence increase significant accumulation of organic carbon (52%) and nitrogen
(79%) in the soil to the extent that partial replacement of compost with low fertile
STP soil NIC up to 60% could replenish the soil organic matter in a sugarcane mono-
cultured soil. It has shown advantage on direct recycling of sewage sludge through
co-composting for enhancing soil nutrients in sugarcane field. In addition to this,
based on the experiment it is suggested that the low fertile monoculture top soil from
agricultural field may be interchanged with STP proximity soil to induce crop yield,
fertility and to effectively manage the contaminants in STP proximity. To satisfy the
organic nutrient requirements in agricultural field and to deal the waste effectively,
it is supposed to utilize the waste resources as useful returns. This will support for
the economical and sustainable approach.

Acknowledgements This research was funded by Science and Engineering Research Board,
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India under Swachh Bharat Mission
(ECR/2016/001114/ES). The authors would like to acknowledge the support rendered by the
management, staff and students of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam.

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