Before recommending biosolids at large scale for forest plantations it is necessary to have an ample understanding of its effects on soil and plant. Thus, it was evaluated the soil fertility, nutritional status and growth of a Eucalyptus grandis plantation fertilized with biosolid (bios). The trial was established at the Experimental Station of Forest Sciences of Itatinga – ESALQ/USP (São Paulo State, Brazil). The experimental design was in complete randomized blocks, with 4 replicates. There were nine treatments, namely: (1) control; […]

The effects of pH changes and sewage sludge application on the distribution of Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn among exchangeable, organic, amorphous Fe and Al oxides, crystalline Fe and Al oxides, and residual fractions of two soils (and Eutrustox and a Ultipsamment) were studied in a greenhouse experiment carried out at the FCAV-UNESP, in Jaboticabal (SP), Brazil. The heavy metal contents in these fractions were related to those extracted with DTPA, HCl 0.1 mol L-1, Mehlich-1, and Mehlich-3 extractants […]

The use of industrial and city wastes with high heavy metal contents in agriculture have increased the need for obtaining the concentration of such elements that are available in the soil. Thus, a greenhouse experiment was carried out at the FCAV-UNESP, in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil in order to compare analysis methods (DTPA, HCl 0.1 mol L-1, Mehlich-1, and Mehlich-3) to evaluate the Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn availability for corn (Zea mays L.) plants in two soils […]

Cadmium dynamics in the soil-plant system were evaluated in an experiment with a Typic Hapludox (320 g kg-1 of clay) PVC columns (diameter 0.10 m, height 0.80 m) were filled with soil samples (V % elevated to 70), and the surface layer (0-0.2 m) supplemented with Cd-contaminated biosolid (sewage sludge, pH 6). The biosolid treatments were contaminated as follows (in mg kg-1): 0 (control) 2,500 of Cd, 5,000 of Cd, 2,500 of Cd + 2,500 of Pb, and 5,000 of […]

Brasilia’s urban growth has caused the increase of domestic sewage sludge, production generating a large volume of biosolid – a final product of sludge treatment – deposited at the Companhia de Saneamento de Brasilia (CAESB) sewage treatment plants. Although there is still a lack of technical data on health, environmental safety and economic viability, it has been used as a soil amendment and fertilizer by farmers in the neighbouring areas. The biosolid produced at one of the sewage treatment plants […]

The agronomic use of biosolid is considered an adequate alternative to its disposal and, although a technical knowledge about its fertilizing properties is already available, information on its qualitative, economical and practical aspects for its use on the field is also needed. The biosolid produced by the “Companhia de Saneamento de Brasília” (CAESB) showed an appreciable variability in nutrient concentration among each monthly sampling from August, 1995 to July, 1996 and among the sludge treatment plants (ETEs) where the biosolid […]

The structural features of humic acids (HA) after addition of organic matter from urban residues were evaluated. The HAs were extracted from the surface (0-20 cm) of an ultisol (Seropédica, RJ) and oxisol (Piraí, RJ) which had been treated with the equivalent of 80 t ha-1 (dry material) of compost from urban waste and also sewage sludge. The incubation time in the laboratory was 24 weeks under room temperature and humidity at field capacity. Tha HAs were characterized by elemental […]

Physico-chemical characteristics of humic acids obtained from urban waste (AH-CRSU) and sewage (AH-LETE) produced in the city of Rio de Janeiro, were determined through elemental analysis, total acidity, spectroscopic methods and electron scanning microscopy. The analysis of structural traits revealed some differences between the humic acids investigated. The presence of aromatic moieties was confirmed with UV-Vis spectroscopy, with more substituted systems present in the AH-LETE. IR spectroscopy showed aliphatic groups in the AH and as more complex signals due the […]

The leaching of nitrates and the metals K, Ca, Mg, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn were evaluated in an experiment using biosolids amended soils. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized block design with four treatments: Typic Hapludox with and without biosolids (LA and LA + sludge) and Rhodic Hapludox with and without biosolids (LV and LV + sludge) and four replications. Biosolids were applied to soils every two months in an average rate corresponding to 78 […]

Phosphorus availability in samples of Aquatibia (Typic xerofluvent) and Hoda (Ultic haploxeralf) soils incubated with increasing amounts of organic materials (barley straw, cowpea plant tops, dairy manure and sewage sludge) was estimated by different chemical methods and by measuring the activity of the enzymes acid phosphatase and phosphodiesterase, at the Department of Soils and Environmental Sciences of the University of California/Riverside, from January to November of 1985. In a greenhouse study, yield of dry matter and P uptake by corn […]