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Mineralization and Gaseous Loss of Nitrogen in Soil‐Applied Liquid Sewage Sludge
Author(s) -
King Larry D.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1973.00472425000200030011x
Subject(s) - sewage sludge , volatilisation , mineralization (soil science) , environmental science , nitrogen , environmental chemistry , sewage , pollution , chemistry , soil water , environmental engineering , waste management , soil science , ecology , organic chemistry , biology , engineering
Because of the current interest in land disposal of sewage sludge, experiments were conducted to determine the rate of N mineralization in sludges. Sludge applications can then be adjusted to supply adequate N for maximum crop production but prevent excessive applications which would lead to NO 3 ‐N pollution of ground water. A 2.5‐inch depth of liquid sewage sludge was either surface applied or incorporated with a quantity of soil and incubated under laboratory conditions. At the end of 18 weeks, NO 3 ‐N accumulation was 22% of the applied N when the sludge was applied to the soil surface and 38% when the sludge was incorporated with the soil. Gaseous N losses ranged from 16 to 22% of the applied N in the incorporated treatment and 21 to 36% in the surface‐applied treatment. Only a small part of the gaseous N loss resulted from NH 3 volatilization.