Ameliorating plant available water by addition of treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge on entisols

Palm oil mill contributed a significant benefit to agro-based industry and social-economic for Malaysia. The treated POME sludge was produced from the open treatment ponds and palm oil mill effluent (POME) without any treatment is considered as a polluted wastewater. This study is to determine the effect of POME sludge on Entisols for plant available water (PAW). The data obtained from this study were selected to measure physicochemical parameters (bulk density, porosity, compaction, organic matter), hydraulic parameter (hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic capacity and water retention) to determine the PAW. The POME sludge from different treatment ponds (control, mixing pond, anaerobic pond, facultative pond, algae pond and dumping pond) was applied to the Zea mays (Hibrimas) as a test crops. The results showed that maize treated with POME sludge from the dumping pond indicated significant difference on soil organic matter, bulk density, porosity, soil compaction and plant available water compared to mixing and anaerobic ponds. As a conclusion, POME sludge from the dumping might improve soil physical properties of Entisols. The dumping pond sludge has significant potential to be used as an organic amendment for plant growth in the future

Shear strength and root length density analyses of Entisols treated with palm oil mill effluent sludge

The underutilized and improper management of wastewater such as palm oil mill effluent sludge (POME) sludge might create pollution and give a negative impact towards the environment. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of shear strength parameter and root length density of maize on Entisols applied with POME sludge as a soil amendment. The maize was planted on Rasau soil series (Entisols) amended with different POME sludge treatment systems from various ponds (mixing, anaerobic, facultative, algae, and dumping). Standard direct shear box test was used to identify the cohesion (c) and angle of internal friction (φ) after application of treatments. The bulk density, porosity, moisture content, organic matter, root length and root density of Zea mays L. (Hibrimas) applied with POME sludge from dumping pond (DP), aglae pond (ALP) and facultative pond (FP) were significantly difference against the control treatment. The positive effect of root length and root length density (RLD) treated with POME sludge from the dumping pond was 26% and 38% compared to the other treatments. The results highlighted that roots enhanced soil shear strength by reducing the cohesion and increased the angle of internal friction component. The shear strength analysis showed that high shear strength of normal stress at 500.72 kN/m2 was measured from the dumping pond's POME sludge treatment after maize harvesting. The POME sludge from the DP, ALP and FP was ameliorating some nutrients deficiencies for the plant growth and improved the root length density. In conclusion, the POME sludge from the DP indicated the high shear strength and root length densities due to the adequate nutrients for roots distribution and maize growth

Phytoremediation of heavy metal on entisols and plant uptake amended with palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge was derived from about 50% of wastewater effluent of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) productions. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of contaminant status which was applied with POME sludge on Entisols and plant uptake of maize growth. POME sludge obtained from the Jengka 8 FELDA Palm Oil was used in this study. The maize (Zea mays) was used as a test crop and planted in Rasau series soil (Entisols). The soil, leaves and stem samples were air-dried, homogenized and sieved. Heavy metal analysis identified the existence of Cu, Cr, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni and Mn elements by the sequential extraction procedure using optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The physicochemical of POME sludge showed that most heavy metals in each treatment fulfilled the WHO/FAO standard and were safe for human consumption. After applying treatments on Entisols, a small amount of Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb, Ni and Mn was retrieved from the exchanges phase. Small amount of Cr, Ni and Mn were identified in the stems and leaves. Zn, Cd, Pb and Cr were not detected in the bioavailable forms, while Cu was only available in the mixing ponds sludge samples. The results showed that most heavy metal properties contained low residual fractions from the soil and plant uptake in stems and leaves. The application of POME sludge in agricultural practices might offer a sustainable utilization of waste materials in the oil palm plantation