Polyacrylamide preparations for protection of water quality threatened by agricultural runoff contaminants

Abstract

"Capsule": Polyacrylamide preparations show promise in reducing flow of sediments, nutrients and microorganisms from animal production facilities. AbstractWaste streams associated with a variety of agricultural runoff sources are major contributors of nutrients, pesticides and enteric microorganisms to surface and ground waters. Water soluble anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) was found to be a highly effective erosion-preventing and infiltration-enhancing polymer, when applied at rates of 1-10 g m-3 in furrow irrigation water. Water flowing from PAM treated irrigation furrows show large reductions in sediment, nutrients and pesticides. Recently PAM and PAM + Ca0 and PAM + Al(SO4)3 mixtures have been shown to filter bacteria, fungi and nutrients from animal wastewater. Low concentrations of PAM [175-350 g PAM ha-' as PAM or as PAM + Ca0 and PAM + Al(SO 4) mixture] applied to the soil surface, resulted in dramatic decreases (10 fold) of total, coliform and fecal streptococci bacteria in cattle, fish and swine wastewater leachate and surface runoff. PAM treatment also filtered significant amounts of NH4, PO4 and total P in cattle and swine wastewater. This points to the potential of developing PAM as a water quality protection measure in combination with large-scale animal feeding operations. Potential benefits of PAM treatment of animal facility waste streams include: (1) low cost, (2) easy and quick application, (3) suitability for use with other pollution reduction techniques. Research on the efficacy of PAM for removal of protozoan parasites and viruses and more thorough assessment of PAM degradation in different soils is still needed to completely evaluate PAM treatment as an effective waste water treatment. We will present analysis and feasibility of using PAM, PAM + Al(SO4)3 , and PAM + CaO application for specific applications. Our results demonstrate their potential efficacy in reducing sediment, nutrients and microorganisms from animal production facility effluents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

Synthesis and application of lignin-based copolymer LSAA on controlling non-point source pollution resulted from surface runoff

“…In the experiment, PAM was considered to be a comparison with LSAA. The results indicated that PAM could significantly reduce the output of runoff, TSS, COD Cr , TN, and TP (Tables 2-6), which was consistent with the conclusion of many correlative studies (Lenze and Sojka, 1994;Lentz et al, 1998;Entry et al, 2002). The data of the comparison between LSAA and PAM indicated no significant difference.…”

“…The application of polymers on reducing surface runoff contamination was proved to be a feasible way to control NPS. From the early 1990s, polyacrylamide (PAM) was used as an effective strategy to control soil erosion (Lentz and Sojka, 1994) and to protect water quality threatened by agricultural runoff contaminations (Entry et al, 2002). The successful use of PAM drove the development of the polymers with * Corresponding author.…”

Polymer and sprinkler droplet energy effects on sugar beet emergence, soil penetration resistance, and aggregate stability

“…The treatments with more concentrated solution in our study decreased emergence compared to the control, Figure 1. We observed that the 18 and 37% 8102 solutions formed a crust or polymer mat on the soil surface (Entry et al, 2002), possibly by cementing surface aggregates to one another. The less concentrated 5% 8102 solution appeared to stabilize individual aggregates without forming a polymer mat.…”

Use of Synthetic Polymers and Biopolymers for Soil Stabilization in Agricultural, Construction, and Military Applications

“…For example, PAM prevents yearly topsoil runoff of up to 15.8 t ha -1 (Lenz and Sojka 1994) and at least three times that as on-field erosion. In addition to preventing herbicide and pesticide toss, PAM was recently shown to sequester biological and chemical contaminants of runoff, providing significant potential for reduced spread of phytopathogens, animal coliforms, and other toxic organisms Sojka 2000, 2003;Entry et al 2002.…”