Soil Conditioning Effects of Municipal Sludge Compost

Abstract
Sewage sludges are often described as excellent soil conditioners. In land application, the physical and chemical properties of the sludge are always carefully characterized; however, the soil conditioning effect resulting from sludge application has seldom been documented. This report describes an experiment which quantitatively measures the effect of sewage sludge on the physical properties of receiving soils in term of four factors: (1) Bulk density; (2) hydraulic conductivity; (3) water holding capacity; and (4) modulus of rupture. Results indicated the agronomic nature of the soil may be improved by such sludge application. However, the amount of sludge required to induce significant changes in soil properties is far greater than the amount normally used to satisfy nutrient requirements for crop growth. Conditioning soils by using sewage sludges results in a reduction of soil bulk density and cohesion, and an increase in water holding capacity and hydraulic conductivity.

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