Wastewater Reuse: impact on the chemical and macronutritional attributes of an inceptisol irrigated with treated domestic wastewater

This study aimed to estimate the potential impact of wastewater reuse on the chemical and macronutritional attributes of an inceptisol cropped with sugarcane. The experimental design was in three randomized blocks, in split-plot design (three replicates per treatment), with three different irrigation treatments: treated wastewater (TWW) from Canaveralejo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP-C); groundwater without any fertilizer (GW); and groundwater with chemical fertilizer (GW+CF). At the end of the study, plots with treated wastewater irrigation improved slightly Ca/Mg, Mg/K, and Ca+Mg/K ratios, increased OM, Na, P, and K contents and decreased pronouncedly inorganic nitrogen (N-NH4; N-NO3) of an inceptisol. Besides, we found that the type of treatment did not influence the variation of chemical attributes in soil, since statistically differences were no found in comparison among treatments. Therefore, our results suggest no adverse impact on chemical soil attributes due to wastewater reuse on sugarcane irrigation.