Journal of Environmental Management 95 (2012) S188eS192

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Journal of Environmental Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman

Chemical properties and biological activity in soils of Mallorca following twenty

years of treated wastewater irrigation
Maria Adrover*, Edelweïss Farrús, Gabriel Moyà, Jaume Vadell
Department of Biology, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: On the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, the use of secondary-treated municipal wastewater in irriga-
Received 29 September 2009 tion was introduced with the construction of the first wastewater treatment plants in the 1970s. In this
Received in revised form study, the chemical properties and biological activity of 21 arable soils, irrigated for more than 20 years
8 June 2010
with secondary-treated wastewater, were tested in order to assess their quality. Soil quality was eval-
Accepted 14 August 2010
uated by measuring cation exchange capacity, pH, calcium carbonate equivalent, soil organic matter, total
Available online 19 September 2010
nitrogen, available phosphorus, water-soluble organic carbon, soil microbial biomass, soil basal respi-
ration, and the activities of the enzymes dehydrogenase, b-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase. No
Keywords:
Wastewater reuse
negative effects of the irrigation treatment were observed on the measured soil parameters. Indeed, soil
Agricultural soils water-soluble organic carbon, soil microbial biomass and b-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase
Chemical parameters activities increased under treated wastewater irrigation. Biological activity of soils irrigated with treated
Soil microbial biomass wastewater was affected mainly by soil organic matter content. Although the typical crop management
Enzymatic activities of alfalfa, and other forage crops associated with treated wastewater irrigation, may have contributed to
the increase of these parameters, the results suggest that irrigation with treated wastewater is a strategy
with many benefits to agricultural land management.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction reported an increase in soil salinity and Na accumulation, with

The use of wastewater for irrigation is well established in arid
and semiarid areas around the world (Hamilton et al., 2007; Qadir
et al., 2007). The main advantage of wastewater irrigation, in
addition to the implied nutrient input, is the constant availability of
this water resource (Toze, 2006; WHO, 2006). Irrigation with
untreated wastewater may increase soil organic matter, nitrogen
and concentrations of major cations (Siebe, 1998; Angin et al.,
2005). However, it has been associated with negative impacts on
health (Gantzer et al., 2001; Rutkowski et al., 2007). Moreover,
long-term irrigation with untreated wastewater could lead to
a heavy metal accumulation, and a consequent loss of soil quality,
depending on the origins of the wastewater (Lucho-Constantino
et al., 2005; Mapanda et al., 2005). For these reasons, treatment
of wastewater is generally recommended before its use in irrigation
(Jiménez-Cisneros, 1995; Toze, 2006).
The effects on soil properties of irrigation with treated waste-
water over different lengths of time have been studied by several
authors. Qian and Mecham (2005) and Rusan et al. (2007) each
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 971172525; fax: þ34 971173184.
E-mail address: maria.adrover@uib.es (M. Adrover).
higher values associated with longer periods of treated municipal
wastewater irrigation. Such increases in salinity can lead to
a decrease in aggregate stability and soil hydraulic conductivity
(Qian and Mecham, 2005), however, the presence of Ca and Mg in
calcareous soils can mitigate this deleterious effect (Lado and Ben-
Hur, 2009). Schipper et al. (1996) did not observe any changes in
soil biological and biochemical parameters after 3 years of irriga-
tion with a tertiary-treated domestic effluent, while Chen et al.
(2008) found an enhancement of soil enzyme activities following
10 years of treated municipal wastewater irrigation.
On the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, irrigation of arable
soils with treated municipal wastewater was introduced in the
seventies, when the first wastewater treatment plants were built.
The use of secondary-treated wastewater made the support of
traditionally irrigated lands possible in areas where the
groundwater had become saline as a result of seawater intrusion
into the aquifers (Mateos-Ruiz and Lopez-Garcia, 2003). Such
areas have been cultivated with crops destined for animal feed;
principally alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a pluriannual crop, usually
cultivated for 5e7 years, but also maize (Zea mais) and other
forage crops. Irrigation is typically carried out via a process of
flooding.

0301-4797/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.08.017
 M. Adrover et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 95 (2012) S188eS192 S189

Soil management has an important influence on soil biological organic carbon using a Shimadzu TOC-5000A analyser. Soil micro-
activity: microbial biomass and enzymatic activities are sensitive to bial biomass was determined using a fumigation-extraction proce-
intensive cultivation (Riffaldi et al., 2002), but are stimulated by dure (Vance et al., 1987). Basal respiration was estimated using the
organic matter supply (Pascual et al., 2002). For these reasons, soil method described by Alef (1998), while dehydrogenase, b-glucosi-
biological parameters are considered to be good indicators of soil dase and alkaline phosphatase activities were determined as
quality (Bandick and Dick, 1999). reported by Tabatabai (1982). Dehydrogenase activity was measured
The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of soils using triphenyltetrazolium chloride as a substrate; samples were
which had been subjected to irrigation by secondary-treated incubated for 24 h at 37  C. b-Glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase
municipal wastewater over a period of more than 20 years using activities were measured using p-nitrophenyl-b-D-glucoside and p-
selected soil chemical and biological indicators. nitrophenyl phosphate as substrates, respectively; samples were
incubated for 1 h at 37  C for both analyses. All measured parameters
were calculated on a dry matter basis.
2. Material and methods
The data generated from the analyses of soils irrigated with
treated wastewater for more than 20 years were compared with data
In July of 2006, one composite sample (consisting of four
from 23 non-wastewater treated agricultural soils that were
randomly collected sub-samples) was taken from the plough layer
sampled and analyzed in July of 2003 for a previous study (Farrús
(0e20 cm) at 21 sites on the island of Mallorca which had been irri-
et al., unpublished data). These agricultural soils included a variety of
gated with secondary-treated wastewater for more than 20 years. All
soil types, mainly Calcisols, but including Regosols and Luvisols, and
of the sites had been farmed conventionally, according to local
were generally cultivated with herbaceous crops. Soil samples from
practice. Although some of the fields were not under cultivation at
both studies were processed following the same methodologies.
the moment of sampling, alfalfa had been the main crop in all of them,
Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlations were calculated
and had been rotated with other crops such as maize, barley and oats.
using SPSS 15.0 for Windows. A Student’s independent sample t-test
The study sites were located in the four areas of Mallorca where
was used for comparisons between means when variances were
irrigation with treated wastewater was first introduced. In these
equal and an unequal variance t-test was used when variances were
areas, excessive extraction of local groundwater had led to the
unequal (Ruxton, 2006). The Levene’s test was performed to test for
intrusion of seawater into the aquifers (Lopez-Garcia and Mateos-
homogeneity of variances.
Ruiz, 2003), and secondary-treated wastewater is the only
available source of water, consequently there were no other non-
3. Results and discussion
wastewater irrigated sites available which shared similar
management and could therefore have been utilized as controls.
Data from non-wastewater treated soils were collected from
Calcisols, sometimes associated with Regosols and Luvisols,
different soil types and cropping systems and can be considered as
were the predominant soil types in all the areas of study. Sites were
reference values for a representative range of soils from the island
irrigated by flooding with secondary-treated wastewater from the
of Mallorca. However, the sampling of soils irrigated with treated
closest municipal wastewater treatment plant. Treatment of
wastewater was limited to the few locations where this type of
wastewater was performed with an activated-sludge system in all
irrigation had been established for more than 20 years. Conse-
cases. Selected physical and chemical characteristics of the
quently, less variation was observed in the chemical and biological
secondary-treated wastewater are reported in Table 1.
soil parameters of the soils irrigated with treated wastewater than
Field-moist soil samples were immediately sieved (2 mm),
in those of the non-wastewater treated soils (Table 2).
moistened to water holding capacity and incubated at 25  C for 10
With the exception of soil pH, available phosphorus and water-
days to permit uniform rewetting before the analysis of soil
soluble organic carbon, the chemical properties of soils irrigated
microbial biomass, basal respiration and soil enzymatic activities.
with treated wastewater were generally within the same ranges as
In addition, sub-samples of each soil were air dried and ground for
the non-wastewater treated soils (Table 2). Previous studies, con-
chemical analysis.
cerning soils under long-term irrigation with untreated wastewa-
Cation exchange capacity was measured by the ammonium
ters, have reported an increase in soil C and N contents (Siebe, 1998;
acetate method (Rhoades, 1982). Soil pH was determined in a soil:-
Friedel et al., 2000), and even an increase in cation exchange
water suspension (1:2.5) and percentage of calcium carbonate
capacity (Angin et al., 2005) which can be attributed to the high
equivalent was measured using a Bernard calcimeter. Soil organic
contents of organic compounds in the applied wastewater.
matter was determined by the wet oxidation method with dichro-
However, no such increase was observed when the wastewater was
mate (Nelson and Sommers, 1982), total nitrogen by the Kjeldahl
treated before use (Qian and Mecham, 2005).
method (Bremmer and Mulvaney, 1982) and available phosphorus
Soil pH was significantly higher in soils irrigated with treated
measured using the extraction method of Olsen et al. (1954). Water-
wastewater, compared to non-wastewater treated soils. Signifi-
soluble organic carbon was measured after shaking 8 g of soil with
cantly higher values of available phosphorus and water-soluble
40 ml of distilled water (soil:water; 1:5) for 30 min in an end-to-end
organic carbon were observed in the former group of soils,
shaker. The resulting suspension was centrifuged and the extract
compared to the latter. Such an observed increase in soil pH,
filtered to <0.45 mm. The filtrate was used to determine soluble
following treated wastewater irrigation, concurs with the findings
of other authors (Schipper et al., 1996; Qian and Mecham, 2005),
Table 1 and can be attributed to the additional input of exchangeable
Physical and chemical characteristics of secondary-treated wastewater. cations, mostly sodium, created by the irrigation water (Gelsomino
Mean Standard deviation
et al., 2006). An increase in available soil phosphorus was reported
by Mohammad and Mazahreh (2003), and also by Mandal et al.
pH 7.8 0.4
EC 25  C (dS m1) 2.32 0.77 (2008), in treated wastewater irrigated soils, reflecting the high
SS (mg l1) 17.0 16.6 phosphorus content in the wastewater used. Siebe (1998) and
NH4-N (mg l1) 8.67 11.47 Angin et al. (2005) obtained similar results with untreated waste-
NO3-N (mg l1) 5.42 5.25 water. The increased content of water-soluble organic carbon in the
EC, electrical conductivity; SS, suspended solids. soils irrigated with treated wastewater may be related to the
S190 M. Adrover et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 95 (2012) S188eS192

Table 2 and the soils of the other treatment (Table 2). These differences
Descriptive statistics of biological activity and soil properties. Comparison between could be attributed to the wastewater irrigation, as was observed by
treated wastewater (1) and non-wastewater irrigated soils (2).
Filip et al. (1999) who found higher enzymatic activities in soils
T n Mean Standard deviation Sig irrigated with untreated wastewater over 100 years compared to
CEC 1 21 15.3 4.7 non-irrigated soils. Friedel et al. (2000) observed a similar increase
2 23 17.2 6.1 in microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity in Vertisols which
pH 1 21 8.5 0.2 <0.001
had been irrigated on a long-term basis with untreated wastewater.
2 23 8.2 0.2
CaCO3 1 21 39.6 14.7 Brzezinska et al. (2006) and Truu et al. (2009) reported a significant
2 23 41.0 20.7 increase of alkaline phosphatase in soils irrigated with treated
SOM 1 21 3.28 0.75 wastewater over shorter periods of time (4 and 3 years, respec-
2 23 3.14 1.66 tively) and Chen et al. (2008) observed an enhancement of various
N 1 21 0.20 0.04
2 23 0.18 0.08
enzymatic activities in soils irrigated with treated wastewater over
C/N 1 21 9.5 0.5 10 years. The positive effect of treated wastewater irrigation on soil
2 23 9.9 1.5 microbial biomass and its associated activities can be attributed to
P 1 21 86.2 36.0 0.034 the addition of easily decomposable organic matter and nutrients
2 23 55.1 55.0
(Friedel et al., 2000; Chen et al., 2008). Nevertheless, the effect of
WSOC 1 21 44.8 16.2 0.037
2 23 35.1 13.9 crop type on microbial biomass and enzymatic activities must also
MB 1 21 658 200 0.017 be taken into consideration. According to Dodor and Tabatabai
2 508 200 (2005), cropping systems that leave residues on the soil surface
BR 1 21 5.57 1.90 will enhance enzyme activity. The highest values of b-glucosidase
2 23 4.99 1.96
DH 1 21 1.60 0.55
activity obtained by these authors were found in soils directly
2 23 1.15 0.95 below an alfalfa crop. Similarly, Truu et al. (2009) suggested a co-
GL 1 21 2.44 1.13 <0.001 effect of municipal wastewater and vegetation on the soil microbial
2 23 1.04 0.62 community.
AP 1 21 7.66 2.99 <0.001
Some basic chemical properties of the soils irrigated with
2 23 3.33 1.63
treated wastewater were statistically correlated. The highest
T, treatment; n, number of samples; Sig, significance; CEC, cation exchange capacity correlation was found between soil organic matter and nitrogen
(cmol kg1); CaCO3, calcium carbonate equivalent (%); SOM, soil organic matter (%); N,
total nitrogen (%); P, available phosphorus (mg kg1); WSOC, water-soluble organic
content (Table 3) and this was also highly correlated in the non-
carbon (mg kg1); MB, soil microbial biomass (mg C kg1); BR, basal respiration wastewater treated soils (Table 4). Soil organic matter was also
(mg CO2 kg1 h1); DH, dehydrogenase activity (mmol tryphenylformazan kg1 24 h1); strongly correlated with cation exchange capacity and with all the
GL, b-glucosidase activity (mmol PNP kg1 h1); AP, alkaline phosphatase activity parameters related to biological activity in both groups of soils
(mmol p-nitrophenol kg1 h1).
(Tables 3 and 4). However, high correlations of soil organic matter
All values based on soil dry weight.
with available phosphorus and water-soluble organic carbon were
observed only in the non-wastewater treated soils (Table 4). This
suggests that the available phosphorus and water-soluble organic
presence of dissolved organic matter (cell fragments and macro- carbon in these soils are the result of soil organic matter mineral-
molecules) in the water (Shon et al., 2006). However, land use and ization, while the soils irrigated with treated wastewater may
management practices can also have a considerable effect on this receive these elements directly from the irrigation water itself.
parameter (Chantigny, 2003). For example, water-soluble organic Negative correlations between pH and calcium carbonate
carbon tends to increase under perennial crops such as alfalfa (Wu equivalent with soil organic matter and biological parameters were
et al., 2003), which is one of the most common crops in the soils found in soils irrigated with treated wastewater (Table 3). These
irrigated with treated wastewater on Mallorca. results indicate a soil type effect and can be explained by the low
Soil microbial biomass was significantly higher in soils irrigated biological activity of Calcareous Regosols (Adrover et al., 2007).
with treated wastewater, when compared to that found in the other Soil microbial biomass was highly correlated with dehydroge-
soils, although no differences were observed in basal respiration nase and b-glucosidase activities. Dehydrogenase is an intracellular
and dehydrogenase activity between the two treatments. In addi- enzyme which is involved in microbial oxidoreductase metabolism.
tion, there were strong differences in b-glucosidase and alkaline The high correlation of this enzyme with soil microbial biomass has
phosphatase activities between treated wastewater irrigated soils been widely reported (García-Gil et al., 2000; Taylor et al., 2002). b-

Table 3
Correlations between soil properties and biological activity in long-term treated wastewater irrigated soils of Mallorca.

pH CaCO3 SOM N P WSOC MB BR DH GL AP

CEC 0.608** e 0.851*** 0.821*** e e 0.860*** 0.707*** 0.521* 0.860*** 0.685**
pH 0.457* 0.540* 0.513* 0.509* e 0.470* 0.614** e 0.593** e
CaCO3 e 0.525* e e e 0.511* 0.578** 0.493* e
SOM 0.978*** e e 0.783*** 0.737*** 0.725*** 0.802*** 0.730***
N e e 0.778*** 0.714*** 0.759*** 0.791*** 0.740***
P e e e e e e
WSOC e e e e e
MB 0.650** 0.735*** 0.735*** 0.473*
BR 0.682** 0.745*** e
DH 0.636** 0.610**
GL 0.611**

CEC, cation exchange capacity; CaCO3, calcium carbonate equivalent; SOM, soil organic matter; N, total nitrogen; P, available phosphorous; WSOC, water-soluble organic
carbon; MB, soil microbial biomass; BR, basal respiration; DH, dehydrogenase activity; GL, b-glucosidase activity; AP, alkaline phosphatase activity.
***, **, *Correlations are significant at p < 0.001, p < 0.01, p < 0.05, respectively.
 M. Adrover et al. / Journal of Environmental Management 95 (2012) S188eS192 S191

Table 4
Correlations between soil properties and biological activity in non-wastewater treated agricultural soils of Mallorca.

pH CaCO3 SOM N P WSOC MB BR DH GL AP

CEC e 0.812*** 0.669*** 0.670*** e 0.503* 0.581** 0.629** 0.547* e e
pH 0.466* e e e e e e e e e
CaCO3 0.454* 0.519* e e e e 0.500* e e
SOM 0.961*** 0.646** 0.845*** 0.553** 0.812*** 0.734*** 0.501* 0.772***
N 0.704*** 0.839*** 0.525* 0.770*** 0.659** e 0.679***
P 0.676*** e 0.506* e e e
WSOC 0.496 0.767*** 0,454* e 0.662**
MB 0.746*** 0.660** 0.601** 0.715***
BR 0.760*** 0.666** 0.734***
DH 0.754*** 0.777***
GL 0.636**

CEC, cation exchange capacity; CaCO3, calcium carbonate equivalent; SOM, soil organic matter; N, total nitrogen; P, available phosphorous; WSOC, water-soluble organic
carbon; MB, soil microbial biomass; BR, basal respiration; DH, dehydrogenase activity; GL, b-glucosidase activity; AP, alkaline phosphatase activity.
***, **, *Correlations are significant at p < 0.001, p < 0.01, p < 0.05, respectively.

Glucosidase is an enzyme involved in the degradation of cellulose,
the main component of plant residues. The high correlation of b-
glucosidase and soil microbial biomass in both groups of soils, also
reported by Turner et al. (2002), suggests that the total and extra-
cellular activity of this enzyme are mainly associated with microbial
biomass in soils (Dodor and Tabatabai, 2005). b-Glucosidase was also
strongly correlated with cation exchange capacity and soil organic
matter (Table 3). These results are in agreement with Turner et al.
(2002), who suggested that b-glucosidase activity can provide
a meaningful integrative measure of physico-chemical and biolog-
ical soil quality parameters, and who proposed the use of this
parameter in monitoring soil biological quality. Alkaline phospha-
tase was strongly correlated with soil organic matter and total
nitrogen content (Tables 3 and 4). Deng and Tabatabai (1997)
obtained significant correlations between organic carbon and
phosphatases; suggesting that organic matter plays an important
role in protecting and maintaining soil enzymes in their active forms.
The use of treated wastewater for agriculture has been imple-
mented in other areas affected by seawater intrusion into the aqui-
fers (Anderson, 2003; Bixio et al., 2006), because, in addition to
implying a reduction in groundwater extraction for agricultural
uses, it provides a groundwater recharge via percolation through the
soil and the vadose zone (Durham et al., 2002; Asano and Cotruvo,
2004). Moreover, treated wastewater is not only a low cost source
of water, but also a source of nutrients for plant growth (Vazquez-
Montiel et al., 1996). Irrigation with treated wastewater may
reduce the demand for synthetic fertilizers and may contribute to
a decrease in the level of nutrients in rivers. Moreover, it may
eliminate the need for expensive tertiary treatment and facilitate the
sustainable development of landscape and agricultural irrigation
(Angelakis et al., 1999). For these reasons, the use of treated waste-
water for irrigation should be expanded in order to preserve fresh
water resources and increase waste recycling. The forage crops
associated with treated wastewater irrigation contribute to the
sustainability of an acceptable soil quality, however, more infor-
mation is needed concerning the consequences of utilizing this type
of water in the irrigation of soils cultivated with other crops.
4. Conclusions
After more than 20 years of treated wastewater irrigation, no
negative changes have been observed in the evaluated soil prop-
erties of the island of Mallorca, with the exception of an increase in
soil pH caused by greater sodium supply. The enhancement in soil
microbial biomass, b-glucosidase activity and alkaline phosphatase
activity, in addition to relatively higher values of water-soluble
organic carbon and available phosphorus, can be attributed to
a combination of the irrigation regime and the agricultural
management at each location. Thus, treated wastewater use in
irrigation can have positive effects, not only in aspects of soil
quality, but also in social terms, as it allows the maintenance of
irrigated agriculture in areas where groundwater has been polluted
by seawater intrusion.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. B. Jiménez and Dr. M. Truu for their
constructive review, Dr. E. Baraza for her contribution, and Mr. K.
MacMillan for the English language revision.
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