Modelling the risk of nitrate leaching from two soils amended with five different biosolids

Abstract

High N concentrations in biosolids are one of the strongest reasons for their agricultural use. However, it is essential to understand the fate of N in soils treated with biosolids for both plant nutrition and managing the environmental risk of NO3̇-N leaching. This work aimed at evaluating the risk of NO3̇-N leaching from a Spodosol and an Oxisol, each one treated with 0.5-8.0 dry Mg ha-1 of fresh tertiary sewage sludge, composted biosolids, limed biosolids, heat-dried biosolids and solar-irradiated biosolids. Results indicated that under similar application rates NO3̇-N accumulated up to three times more in the 20 cm topsoil of the Oxisol than the Spodosol. However, a higher water content held at field capacity in the Oxisol compensated for the greater nitrate concentrations. A 20 % NO3̇-N loss from the root zone in the amended Oxisol could be expected. Depending on the biosolids type, 42 to 76 % of the NO3̇-N accumulated in the Spodosol could be expected to leach down from the amended 20 cm topsoil. NO3̇-N expected to leach from the Spodosol ranged from 0.8 (composted sludge) to 3.5 times (limed sludge) the amounts leaching from the Oxisol treated alike. Nevertheless, the risk of NO3̇-N groundwater contamination as a result of a single biosolids land application at 0.5-8.0 dry Mg ha-1 could be considered low.