Treatment and Disposal of Potato Wastewater by Irrigation

Smith, Jay H. and Robbins, C.W. and Bondurant, J.A. and Hayden, C.W. (1978) Treatment and Disposal of Potato Wastewater by Irrigation. USDA Conservation Research Report No. 22. 37 pp.

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Abstract

Irrigation with potato processing waste water
was studied for 3 years at five locations in southern
Idaho. Three of the potato processors surface irrigated
and two sprinkled land planted to perennial
grasses. The processing season began in October
and continued into the following summer. Samples
of 24-hour composited waste water and soil water,
extracted from depths of 15 to 150 cm, were obtained
monthly throughout the year. Analyses were
made on all water samples of sufficient volume for
chemical oxygen demand (COD), NO3 , total N, total
P, ortho P, hydrolyzable P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Cl,
HCO3 , SO4 , electrical conductivity, and pH. Water
applications ranged from 160 to 490 cm per year,
total N from 1,000 to 2,200 kg, P from 150 to 630 kg,
and K from 2,250 to 6,700 kg K/hectare year. COD
decreased 95 to 100 percent after passage of the
water through 150 cm of soil because of biological
activity and filtration. Nitrates were low in one
field with a shallow water table because of denitrification
that resulted from low redox potentials.
Phosphorus concentrations increased 50 to 100
parts per million in the surface 30 cm of soil but not
measurably below that depth. K, Na, Ca, and Mg
changed in proportion to the amounts applied in the
waste water. Irrigation with potato processing
waste water provides a means of utilizing part of
the nutrients that. would otherwise be wasted and
solves a difficult environmental pollution problem.

Item Type:	Technical Bulletin
NWISRL Publication Number:	0420
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Potato Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:57
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2016 16:17
Item ID:	1131
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1131