| Abstract: | The effect of long-term irrigation with untreated sewage effluents from Mexico City on soil properties and heavy metal adsorption behaviour of soils at Irrigation District 03 in the Mezquital Valley, Central Mexico, was studied. General soil parameters of 25 samples from Ap-horizons of Mollic Leptosols and Eutric Vertisols taken at sites which have been under irrigation for different periods of time were compared with samples from fields under rainfed agriculture. The adsorption of Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn was analysed in 8 selected samples by batch experiments. The long-term irrigation of soils with untreated sewage effluent has increased the contents of total (TOC) and dissolved (DOC) organic carbon in Ap-horizons of Leptosols and Vertisols, and diminished the contents of manganese oxides in Vertisols. This influences the heavy metal adsorption behaviour of both soils, since DOC enhances metal solubility at low loading rates and TOC improves metal adsorption capacities at high loading rates. The possibility of an increase in the chloride content in soils due to wastewater irrigation and its relation to higher Cd mobility are discussed, as is the importance of humus balance control through oriented management practices in order to minimize heavy metal mobility in soils, which have been under irrigation with wastewater during long periods. |
