Effect of treated wastewater on uptake of some elements by Turf grass in different soil textures

There is a gradual decline in the availability of fresh water to be used for irrigation in Iran. As a consequence, the use of treated wastewater and other unconventional sources of water for landscape irrigation are on the rise in arid and semi arid areas. Irrigation with wastewater changes the soil properties. Hence, a case study was performed to assess the effects of treated wastewater irrigation on nutrient and heavy metal absorption of a turf cover (DALZJ1 variety). In this research, the advanced treated wastewater (TW) of Shahinshahr Wastewater Treatment Plant was used and the effects of different percentages of water and TW (100% water, 50% water and 50% TW, and 100% TW) on three soil textures (sandy loam, loam and clay loam) for a period of 10 months was studied. Statistical design was based on a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement, with three replications. The results indicated that using TW for irrigating turf grass increased plant uptake of N and Cd. The maximum amount of K, Ni, Co and Pb was absorbed by turf grass from soils irrigated with 50% TW. Also, the absorption of P, Fe and Zn was not affected by TW in the irrigation water. Analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference between soil textures on plant uptake of N, P, K, Cd, Co, Ni, Fe and Zn. The comparison of means showed that there was significant difference in grass Pb content among soil textures. The interaction effects of soil texture and percent TW showed that variation of uptake with increasing TW percentage in irrigation water was not linear and soil texture had no effect on the uptake of elements by this Zoysia variety.