THE INFLUENCE OF WASTE WATER TREATED AND MANURE ON
MN UPTAKE AND GROWTH OF WATER SPINACH (Ipomea aquatica
L.) IN ANDISOL
Sri Nuryani Hidayah Utami, Arina Pramudita and Mulyono Nitisapto
Department of Soil Science, Faculty Agriculture, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta,
Indonesia, cp: nuryaniugm@gmail.com
Keywords : wastewater treated, poultry manure, Mn uptake, water spinach, Andisol
Abstract
The existence of the heavy metal such as Mn in water was not desired because
could be toxic to human life. Soils can be used as filtered, absorbed or exchanger the
heavy metal on the sewage. This research was study the ability of Andisol in reducing
Mn of sewage sludge, so the water can be used to irrigate plants.
A greenhouse experiment in pots was carried out in order to assess the effect of
combination of treated waste water and dose of poultry manure on the bioavailability of
heavy metal Mn in contaminated soils and its uptake from agricultural plants. Water
spinach (Ipomea aquatica L.) plants were grown. Soil samples were analyzed for
determination the content of elements: Mn and other soil chemical properties.
Concentration of the Mn was measured in the leaves and roots of investigated plants,
after the harvesting.
The research was used Completely Randomized Design with two factor. The first
factor was irrigated by treated wastewater folowed by Andisol and untreated
wastewater irrigated. The second factor was the poultry manure doses: 0%, 5%, 10%,
15%, 20% of the soil weight.
The result showed that treated wastewater by slow-sand followed by Andisol
filtered reduced BOD, COD, suspended solid, Mn and Fe concentration in wastewater.
Treated wastewater by slow-sand followed by Andisol filtered decreased plants height,
fresh and dry weight biomass of water spinach. Water spinach irrigated by untreated
and treated waste water tended have high level Mn on leaves and roots, but still below
the levels which can be toxic to the plants. A higher concentration of Mn was
established in the roots of Ipomea, compared to those, in the leaves.
INTRODUCTION
Long term waste water irrigation may lead to the accumulation of heavy metals in
agricultural soils and plants. Food safety issues and potential health risks make this as one of
the most serious environmental concerns (Cui et al., 2004). Vegetables accumulate heavy
metals in their edible and non edible parts. Although some of the heavy metals such as Zn,
Mn, Ni and Cu act as micro-nutrients at lower concentrations, they become toxic at higher
concentrations. Health risk due to heavy metal contamination of soil has been widely
reported (Eriyamremu et al. 2005; Muchuweti et al. 2006). Crops and vegetables grown in
1
soils contaminated with heavy metals have greater accumulation of heavy metals than those
grown in uncontaminated soil (Sharma et al. 2006, 2007). Elevated concentrations of heavy
metals in soil may cause phytotoxicity, direct hazard to human health, indirect effects due to
transmission through the food chain or contamination of ground or surfacewaters (Clijsters et
al., 1999; Cuypers et al., 1999; Berglund et al., 2002; Quartacci et al., 2003). Heavy metals
cannot be degraded or destroyed, but it is possible to alter their chemical form and change
their solubility in water and hence availability to plants (Pulford et al., 2002; Nakova, 2002).
Andisols is volcanic soils which has a very high specific surface so very high absorptive
properties for organic matter, ions, particles and water. Andisols had been used to adsorbed
or exchanged heavy metals by previous researchers.
The term “wastewater” properly means any water that is no longer wanted, as no
further benefits can be derived out of it. About 99 percent of wastewater is water, and only
one percent is solid wastes. Reuse is frequently practiced as a method of water resources
management. Avoidance of environmental problems arising due to discharge of
treated/untreated wastewater to the environment is another factor that encourages reuse.
While the nutrients in wastewater can assist plant growth when reused for irrigation, their
disposal, in extreme cases, is detrimental to ecosystems of the receiving environment. In
addition, there may be concerns about the levels of other toxic pollutants in wastewater, such
as heavy metals. The availability of heavy metals to plants, their uptake and their
accumulation depend on a number of soil, plant and other factors. The soil factors include,
soil pH, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, moisture, temperature and
evaporation (Mapanda et al., 2005). Major plant factors are the species and variety, plant
parts used for consumption, plant age and seasonal effects. Various aquatic floras have been
identified as organisms capable of sorbing toxic and heavy metals from wastewaters. One of
the aquatic plants capable of removing heavy metals is water spinach (Ipomea aquatica).
Mangaan is an essential micronutrient element, which plays a significant metabolic role, but in high
doses it can be toxic for the plants. Andisols is soil that has high capacity to absorb and adsorb
pollutants in domestic waste water. The objective of the present study was to investigate the
effects of treated domestic waste water application on the plant growth, nutrient and Mn
concentrations of water spinach grown in Andisols. In addition, the effect of added treated
waste water was compared to that of manure and untreated waste water.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Domestic wastewater is pumped to the top of building using solar cell energy. Two
units of slow-sand filter which is installed on the top of building are operated to filtering the
wastewater. This slow-sand filter has only physically filter the wastewater. Andisols which is
rich in colloid then filtering the pollutants especially Mn from the wastewater by adsorbing,
exchanging and also filtering. The treated wastewater thus is used to irrigate the vegetable
(Ipomea/water spinach). The water quality parameters has been analyzed including pH, TDS,
DHL, COD, BOD, Fe, and Mn. The research was used Completely Randomized Design with
two factor. The first factor was irrigated by water from domestic wastewater which was
filtered by andisol and non filtered wastewater irrigated. The second factor was the poultry
manure doses application: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% of the soil weight. In order to maintain
2
the moisture content of the soil at approximately field capacity throughout the duration of the
experiment, water was added daily. Ipomea was planted till 2 month. At physiological
maturity, Ipomea was harvesting. Then, leaves and roots were prepared to plant analysis
according to Jones et al. (1991). The measurement of the Mn concentrations in the leaves
and roots were performed by atomic absorption spectrometry method. The obtained data
were processed by the statistics software Statgraph. The influence of the treated and
untreated wastewater and doses of poultry manure was measured, using two factorial
analyses of variance with interactions. The testing of the presence of significant differences
between the two average values in both cases was determined by the Duncan's test for the
level of significance at 95%.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Wastewater treatment quality
Table 1 showed the mean quality of wastewater after treatment. The water pH was good
enough, about 7,5 – 7,7. The wastewater recycling installation increasing wastewater quality
through slow sand filter. Slow sand filter significantly decreased total density (tds), Carbon
Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Fe, and also Mn. Table 1
showed data of wastewater before and after treatments.
According to guideline for safe limits of heavy metals in soil, plants, and water (FAO,
2007), the Mn in wastewater was several fold higher but after treated by slow- sand filter
followed by Andisol, the Mn concentration was drastically decreased. The Fe concentration,
COD and suspended solid also decreased.
Water spinach (Ipomea) growth
There were significant differences in plants height among the treatments. The lower
plants height found in treated waste water without manure application, while the highest
plants height due to untreated wastewater with manure application. Treated waste water by
slow-sand filter followed by Andosol filtered not only reduced the heavy metals but also
decreased the organic matter and nutrients content of the water, so without manure the
growth of water spinach became worst (Table.2.).
Significant differences were detected between average fresh and dry leaves of Ipomeas
as influenced by pultry manure application and treated waste water. The lowest fresh and dry
weight leaves were found on untreated waste water without manure treatment, while the
highest were found on untreated wastewater with 20 % poultry manure application. The
untreated waste water was still rich of nutrients and addition poultry manure enhanced the
Ipomea growth. The highest dose application resulted in the highest leaves weight (Table 3.).
For root dry weight partitioning variables, only fresh roots weght showed significant
differences for Ipomea. This was not the case for dry roots weight. The lowest fresh and dry
roots weight was detected on treated wastewater without manure treatment, while the highest
fresh and dry roots weight was found on untreated wastewater with 20% poultry manure
application treatment (Table 4.).
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Mn concentration in soil and soil pH
Significant differences were detected between Mn concentration in soil and soil pH
after treatments (Table 5.). The lowest Mn concentration in soil was found on treated
wastewater with 15 % manure application, while the highest Mn concentration in soil was
detected on untreated wastewater
The total concentrations of heavy metals in the soils from which vegetables were
sampled were below the maximum permissible limits (MAFF, 1993). Soil pH (in water) was
higher in untreated waste water (6.4-6.9) than in treated waste water (6.1-6.8), while the
concentrations of all heavy metals tested were lower at the treated waste water than at the
treated waste water. The increasing dose manure application did not give significant
differences to Mn concentration in soil till 10% weight application, but increasing dose
manure application till 20 % drastically decreased Mn concentration in soil significantly. The
decreasing Mn concentration in soil followed by the increasing soil pH (Table 5.)
Mn Concentration in leaves and roots
There were significant differences for roots Mn concentrations at defferent treatments.
However, no significant differences were detected between Mn leaves concentration of water
spinach among the treatments (Table 6.)
Concentrations of Mn in plant tissues (dry weight) averaged 37.7 -172.73 mg kg-1 on
roots and 108.46- 189.21 mg kg-1 on leaves. No significant differences (P >0.05) in Mn
concentration were found between the leaves, while all samples’ Mn concentrations were
below the permissible limit of 200 mg kg-1 dry wt. (Food Standards Committee, 1950).
According to Jones et al., (1991), critical concentrations of Mn in leaves ranges from 20 to
100 ppm for most plants. High levels of Mn can be toxic to plants. Concentrations of Mn on
the order of 500 to 800 ppm can result in toxicity in many crops (Landon, 1984). From data
table 6, the plant tissue analyses data showed that all water spinach which were irrigated by
untreated and treated wastewater tended have high level Mn on leaves and roots, but still
below the levels which can be toxic to plants. The data also showed that treated waste water
still gave result in high Mn concentration in plants.
In fact, the main problem for utilizing waste water in plantations is existence of the
heavy metals, because these materials are accumulate in soil and absorbed in plant organs.
High concentration of heavy metals affects mobilization and balanced distribution of the
fundamental elements in plant organs via the competitive uptake (Schat and Ten Bookum,
1992). Thus, if waste water is to be recycled for irrigation the problems associated with using
it need to be known (Emongor and Ramolemana, 2004).
In this research, Andisol can reduce Mn concentration in wastewater, but when the
capacity of the soil to retain heavy metals is reduced due to repeated use of waste water, soil
can release heavy metals into ground water or soil solution available for plant uptake
(Sharma et al., 2007 cit. Tabari et al., 2008). Leafy vegetables have greater potential of
accumulating heavy metals in their edible parts than grain or fruit crops. Studies on the
uptake of heavy metals by plants have shown that heavy metals can be transported passively
from roots to shoots through the xylem vessels (Kirkham, 1977; Krijger et al., 1999). In
4
addition, plant organs such as fruit and seed that have low transpiration rates (e.g. fruits and
seeds) did not accumulate heavy metals because the storage organs are largely phloemloaded and heavy metals are generally poorly mobile in the phloem. Zheljazkov and Neilsen
(1996) found that the concentrations of heavy metals in vegetables per unit dry matter
generally follow the order: leaves >fresh fruits >seeds. Contamination of the human food
chains by heavy metals is not directly affected by the plants’ total uptake, but rather by the
concentration in those parts that are directly consumed (Bieleski and Launchli, 1983). Thus,
in assessing exposure risks, heavy metal contents in roots of water spinach (Ipomea
aquatica) are of less importance than those in the edible leaves. According to Alloway and
Ayres (1993), sensitivity of organisms to heavy metal toxicity depends on heavy metal
accumulation rate in plants, intake rate (in animals) and age of the consuming organism
amongst other factors.
CONSLUSION
Treated wastewater by slow-sand followed by Andosol filtered reduced BOD, COD,
suspended solid, Mn and Fe concentration in wastewater. Treated wastewater by slow-sand
followed by Andisol filtered as water irrigation without manure application decreased plant
height, fresh and dry weight biomass of water spinach.
Untreated wastewater with 20 % poultry manure application increased plant height,
fresh and dry weight biomassa of water spinach. The lowest Mn concentration in soil was
found on treated wastewater with 15 % manure application, while the highest Mn
concentration in soil was detected on untreated wastewater.
Increasing dose manure application did not give significant differences on Mn
concentration in soil till 10% weight application, but increasing dose manure application till
20 % drastically decreased Mn concentration in soil significantly. Water spinach which were
irrigated by untreated and treated waste water tended have high level Mn on leaves and
roots, but still below the levels which can be toxic to plants.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
Thanks to Ministry of National Education, Republic Indonesia (Directorate of
Research and Service for the Community) for financial support.
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TABLES:
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Table 1. The domestic waste ater quality before and after treatments
Parameter
pH
Electrical conductivity µS.cm-1
Ferrum (Fe) mg.L-1
COD mg.L-1
Suspended Solid (SS) mg.L-1
BOD
Mangaan (Mn) mg.L-1
Before
treatment
6.75
150.4
21.06
28.62
418
9.79
5.91
After
treatment
6,98
148,2
0,26
2,15
0,08
0,78
0.025
Table 2. Average height of water spinach as influenced by treated wassewater and poultry
manure application
Treatments
Treated wastewater without manure
Treated wastewater + 5% manure
Treated wastewater + 10% manure
Treated wastewater + 15% manure
Treated wastewater + 20% manure
Untreated wastewater without manure
Untreated wastewater + 5% manure
untreated wastewater + 10% manure
Untreated wastewater + 15% manure
Untreated wastewater + 20% manure
Average plants height (cm)
27.133 bc
35.483 abc
34.300 abc
41.417 a
30.883 abc
23.667 c
36.783 abc
38.217 ab
42.550 a
40.617 a
Numbers in each column by common letters are not significantly at 5% Duncan’s multiple range test
Table 3. Average fresh and dry leaves weight of water spinach as influenced by treated
wastewater and poultry manure application
8
Treatments
Treated wastewater without manure
Treated wastewater + 5% manure
Treated wastewater + 10% manure
Treated wastewater + 15% manure S1K3
Treated wastewater + 20% manure
Untreated wastewater without manure
Untreated wastewater + 5% manure
untreated wastewater + 10% manure
Untreated wastewater + 15% manure
Untreated wastewater + 20% manure
Fresh leaves weight
(g)
6.897 c
11.165 bc
25.127 ab
22.580 ab
25.117 ab
6.370 c
14.542 bc
24.903 ab
34.072 a
34.995 a
Dry leaves weight
(g)
0.6850 c
0.9083 c
2.5933 abc
2.4417 abc
2.7650 abc
0.7300 c
1.5517 bc
2.5450 abc
3.3467 ab
4.1467 a
Numbers in each column by common letters are not significantly at 5% Duncan’s multiple range test
Tablel. Average fresh and dry roots weight of water spinach as influenced by treated
wastewater and poultry manure application
Treatments
Treated wastewater without manure
Treated wastewater + 5% manure
Treated wastewater + 10% manure
Treated wastewater + 15% manure
Treated wastewater + 20% manure
Untreated wastewater without manure
Untreated wastewater + 5% manure
untreated wastewater + 10% manure
Untreated wastewater + 15% manure
Untreated wastewater + 20% manure
Fresh roots weight
(g)
0.720 c
1.403 bc
2.535 abc
3.205 abc
3.082 abc
1.305 bc
2.275 abc
4.070 abc
4.810 ab
5.533 a
Dry roots weight
(g)
0.0950 a
0.5683 a
0.3133 a
0.3533 a
0.3650 a
0.1783 a
0.2650 a
0.5450 a
0.6150 a
0.7233 a
Numbers in each column by common letters are not significantly at 5% Duncan’s multiple range test
Table 5. Average Mn concentration in soil and soil pH as influenced by treated wastewater
and poultry manure application.
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Treatments
Treated wastewater without manure
Treated wastewater + 5% manure
Treated wastewater + 10% manure
Treated wastewater + 15% manure
Treated wastewater + 20% manure
Untreated wastewater without manure
Untreated wastewater + 5% manure
untreated wastewater + 10% manure
Untreated wastewater + 15% manure
Untreated wastewater + 20% manure
Mn in soil ((µg.L-1))
52.54 c
57.13 bc
47.52 c
45.67 c
62.91 bc
92.63 a
85.43 a
82.39 a
50.94 c
50.59 c
pH H2O
6.84 a
6.31 bc
6.18 c
6.24 c
6.51 b
6.95 a
6.99 a
6.51 b
6.43 bc
6.81 a
Numbers in each column by common letters are not significantly at 5% Duncan’s multiple range test
Table 6. Mn concentration on roots and leaves of water spinach as influenced by treated
wastewater and poultry manure application
Treatments
Treated wastewater without manure
Treated wastewater + 5% manure
Treated wastewater + 10% manure
Treated wastewater + 15% manure
Treated wastewater + 20% manure
Untreated wastewater without manure
Untreated wastewater + 5% manure
Untreated wastewater + 10% manure
Untreated wastewater + 15% manure
Untreated wastewater + 20% manure
Mn roots
concentration
(mg.kg-1)
37.70 c
76.65 bc
116.27 abc
113.24 abc
105.39 abc
107.77 abc
62.89 bc
126.69 abc
145.52 bc
172.73 a
Mn leaves
concentration
(mg.kg-1)
110.59 a
189.21 a
134.03 a
115.29 a
125.62 a
108.46 a
122.46 a
160.21 a
118.88 a
154.06 a
Numbers in each column by common letters are not significantly at 5% Duncan’s multiple range test
10