THE EFFECT OF SOIL SURFACTANTS ON SOIL HYDROLOGICAL BEHAVIOR, THE PLANT
GROWTH ENVIRONMENT, IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY AND WATER CONSERVATION
Demie Moore1, Stanley J. Kostka1, Thomas J. Boerth1, Mica Franklin1,Coen J. Ritsema2,3, Louis W.
Dekker2, Klaas Oostindie2, , Cathelijne Stoof3, Jan Wesseling2, Dara Park4
1 Aquatrols,
1273 Imperial Way, Paulsboro, NJ 08066 USA demie.moore@aquatrols.com,
stan.kostka@aquatrols.com, tom.boerth@aquatrols.com, mica.franklin@aquatrols.com; 2 Alterra Soil
Research Center, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands, coen.ritsema@wur.nl,
louis.dekker@wur.nl, klaas.oostindie@wur.nl, jan.wesseling@wur.nl; 3 University of Wageningen, PO Box
47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands, cathelijne.stoof@wur.nl ; 4 Clemson University, Pee Dee
REC, 2200 Pocket Rd., Florence, SC 29506, darap@CLEMSON.EDU.
Soil water repellency causes at least temporal changes in the hydrological properties of a soil which result
in, among other things, suboptimal growing conditions and increased irrigation requirements. Water
repellency in soil is more wide spread than previously thought and has been identified in many soil types
under a wide array of climatic conditions worldwide. (Dekker et al., 2005) The reduction or loss of soil
wettability caused by soil water repellency leads to drastically different hydrological behavior (Dekker et
al. 2009), and reduces the ability of the soil to function as expected. Consequences of soil water
repellency include increased runoff and preferential flow, reduced access to water for plants, reduced
irrigation efficiency, increased requirement for water and other inputs, and increased potential for nonpoint source pollution. (Dekker et al., 2001) Research indicates that certain soil surfactants, sometimes
referred to as soil wetting agents, can be useful tools for managing soil water repellency by modifying the
flow dynamics of water and restoring soil wettability (Kostka et al., 2007) This results in improved
hydrological behavior of those soils. Consequently, the plant growth environment is also improved and
significant water conservation is possible through more efficient functioning of the soil. This presentation
consolidates information on basic hydrological and soil system functions as they relate to the plant growth
environment, irrigation efficiency and water conservation, and shows how they can be compromised by
soil water repellency and improved through application of soil surfactants. The impact on irrigation
efficiency and the plant growth environment is also discussed. The conclusion is that soil water repellency
significantly compromises hydrological properties and the plant growth environment in many soils, and
that the use of certain soil surfactants will improve the hydrological behavior of soils and the environment
for plant growth, while allowing significant water conservation in irrigated crop systems.
See figure on following page.
Figure 1. Effect of surfactant (Revolution) on soil hydrological status and plant quality of fairway 9 of Golf
Club De Pan, NL. Bottom – Actual soil water repellency in top (25) cm of fairway measured by Water
Drop Penetration Time test at 25 (cm) intervals; Middle – Volumetric water content (%) in the upper 5
(cm) measure at intervals of 25 (cm); Top – Turf appearance. Oostindie, et al., 2005.
Key words: Soil water repellency, irrigation efficiency, runoff, preferential flow, soil wetting agents, soil
surfactants, water conservation.
References
Dekker LW, Oostindie K, Ziogas AK, Ritsema CJ (2001) The impact of soil water repellency on soil
moisture variability and preferential flow. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal 9, 498-505.
Dekker LW, Oostindie K, Ritsema CJ (2005) Exponential increase in publications related to soil water
repellency. Australian J. Soil Research 43, 383-395.
Dekker LW, CJ Ritsema, K Oostindie, D Moore, and JG Wesseling (2009), Methods for determining soil
water repellency on field-moist samples, Water Resour. Res., 45, W00D33,
doi:10.1029/2008WR007070.
Kostka SJ, Dekker LW, Ritsema CJ, Cisar JL, Franklin MK. (2007) Surfactants as management tools for
ameliorating soil water repellency in turfgrass soils. Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium
on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals (ISAA2007.
Oostindie K, Dekker LW, Ritsema CJ Wesseling JG (2005) Effects of surfactant applications on the
wetting of sands in fairways of the Dutch golf course De Pan, Alterra Report 1144 ALterra, Green
World Research, Wageningen-UR, The Netherlands, 84pp.