Swine Lagoon Effluent Applied to ‘Coastal’ Bermudagrass: III. Irrigation and Rainfall Runoff

Westerman, P. W.; Overcash, Michael; Evans, Robert O.; King, Larry D.; Burns, J. C.; Cummings, G. A.

doi:10.2134/jeq1985.00472425001400010004x

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…These types of animal production facilities are variously known as intensive livestock operations (ILOs) or concentrated animal operations (CAOs), and feature a system in which thousands of swine or fowl are raised in long, shed-like structures, with their urine and feces rinsed into nearby open lagoons. The waste material undergoes sludge settling and receives some anaerobic breakdown in the lagoons; when lagoon levels rise enough, the liquid effluent is normally sprayed onto nearby fields with a grass covering, usually Bermuda grass (Westerman et al 1985).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane Effects on Water Quality and Benthos in the Cape Fear Watershed: Natural and Anthropogenic Impacts

Mallin

Posey

Shank

et al. 1999

Ecological Applications

107

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In the summer of 1996, southeastern North Carolina, United States, was struck by two hurricanes, with the second (Hurricane Fran) doing considerably more damage than the first (Hurricane Bertha). The Cape Fear watershed, largest in North Carolina, suffered from severe water quality problems for weeks following Fran, including a massive fish kill in the Northeast Cape Fear River. Post-hurricane flooding caused inputs of riparian swamp water to river channels, and sewage treatment plant and pump station power failures caused diversions of millions of liters of raw and partially treated human waste into rivers. Additionally, several swine waste lagoons were breached, overtopped, or inundated, discharging large quantities of concentrated organic waste into the system, particularly into the Northeast Cape Fear River. Dissolved oxygen (DO) decreased to 2 mg/L in the mainstem Cape Fear River, and fell to zero in the Northeast Cape Fear River for Ͼ3 wk. Biochemical oxygen demand in the Northeast Cape Fear River was sixfold greater than in the other tributaries, probably as a result of anthropogenically derived inputs. The Cape Fear Estuary also suffered from hypoxia for several weeks. Following Hurricane Fran, ammonium levels in the Northeast Cape Fear River displayed a distinct increase, and total phosphorus reached its highest concentration in 27 yr. The benthic community, which is dominated by opportunistic species typical of oligohaline to mesohaline estuarine areas, showed a mixed response. There was a significant decline in total benthic abundances immediately after Hurricane Fran at an oligohaline station in the Northeast Cape Fear River, with recovery occurring in ϳ3 mo. An oligohaline station in the mainstem Cape Fear River, which had relatively rapid DO recovery, did not display significant declines. A mesohaline station 5 km below the confluence of these rivers showed broad and long-lasting benthic declines, but benthic declines were less severe in the lowest reaches of the estuary sampled. The natural hurricane effect of swamp water flooding into river basins led to reduced dissolved oxygen levels and increased light attenuation. However, environmental damage was considerably increased by anthropogenic practices, including the lack of backup generating systems for waste treatment systems and subsequent sewage diversions into rivers, as well as accidents occurring at swine waste lagoons sited on river floodplains.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane Effects on Water Quality and Benthos in the Cape Fear Watershed: Natural and Anthropogenic Impacts

Mallin

Posey

Shank

et al. 1999

Ecological Applications

107

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“…Research relating to P movement in animal effluent sprayfields has been limited, especially on rapidly permeable sandy soils. In a swine ( Sus scrofa domesticus ) effluent sprayfield, King et al (1990) reported that after a total of 6100 kg P ha −1 was applied over an 11‐yr period, the downward movement of P in the soil was limited to the upper 75 cm, but there was a potential risk of P transport offsite via surface runoff and subsurface drainage (Westerman et al, 1985). Several studies involving effluent loading of P have been conducted in municipal wastewater sprayfields.…”

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Phosphorus and Other Soil Components in a Dairy Effluent Sprayfield within the Central Florida Ridge

et al. 2007

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There is concern that P from dairy effluent sprayfields will leach into groundwater beneath Suwannee River basins in northern Florida. Our purpose was to describe the effects of dairy effluent irrigation on the movement of soil P and other nutrients within the upper soil profile of a sprayfield over three 12-mo cycles (April 1998-March 2001). Effluent P rates of 70, 110, and 165 kg ha(-1) cycle(-1) were applied to forages that were grown year-round. The soil is a deep, excessively drained sand (thermic, uncoated Typic Quartzipsamment). Mean P concentration in soil water below the rooting zone (152-cm depth) was < or = 0.1 mg L(-1) during 11 3-mo periods. Mehlich-1-extractable (M1) P, Al, and Ca in the topsoil increased over time but did not change in subsoil depths of 25 to 51, 51 to 71, 71 to 97, and 97 to 122 cm. Topsoil Ca increased as effluent rate increased. High Ca levels were found in dairy effluent (avg.: 305 mg L(-1)) and supplemental irrigation water (avg.: 145 mg L(-1)) which likely played a role in retaining P in the topsoil. An effect of effluent rate on P and Al concentrations in the topsoil was not detected, probably due to large and variable quantities present at project initiation. The P retention capacity (i.e., Al plus Fe) increased in the topsoil because Al increased. Dairy effluent contained Al (avg.: 31 mg L(-1)). Phosphorus saturation ratio (PSR) increased over time in the topsoil but not in subsoil layers. Regardless of effluent rate, the P retention capacity and PSR of subsoil, which contained 119 to 229 mg kg(-1) of Al, should be taken into account when assessing the risk of P moving below the rooting zone of most forage crops.

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“…Similar results were reported by Gilliam et al (1996) for contamination of subsurface waters by nitrate from swine CAO spray fields. In a sub-watershed with CAOs, Westerman et al (1985) tracked 3-6 mg NO 3 Ϫ N/L in surface runoff from spray fields, depending on the effluent application rate. Stone et al (1995) measured 6-8 mg TN i /L and 0.7-1.3 mg TP/L in a stream adjacent to a CAO in another watershed of North Carolina's Coastal Plain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Quality Trends and Management Implications From a Five-Year Study of a Eutrophic Estuary

Glasgow

Burkholder

2000

Ecological Applications

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The Neuse River and Estuary, a major tributary of the second largest estuary on the United States mainland, historically has sustained excessive blooms of algae and toxic dinoflagellates, hypoxia, and fish kills. Previous attempts have been made to use shortterm databases of 2-3 years, or data sets from infrequent (monthly) sampling, to assess whether nutrient inputs to the Neuse are increasing and supporting higher algal production. These previous efforts also have relied on single-point-determined flow velocity data, at upstream sites remote from the estuary, to estimate the volume of flow in quantifying nutrient loading to the estuary. We completed a five-year study of the Neuse, including a comparative inventory of nutrients to the watershed from point sources and from concentrated animal operations (CAOs) as recent nonpoint sources, as well as an intensive assessment of water quality over time in the mesohaline estuary. Estimates of nutrient loads were based on volume of flow data from shore-to-shore transect cross sections, taken with a boat-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler at the westernmost edge of the estuary.A total of 441 point dischargers contributed at least 3.34 ϫ 10 8 L effluent/d to the Neuse system, much of which came from municipal wastewater treatment plants (2.03 ϫ 10 8 L effluent/d, excluding periods of plant malfunctions; total annual loadings of at least 9 ϫ 10 5 kg P and 2.1 ϫ 10 6 kg N, with a 17% increase in human population over the past decade). The Neuse basin also included 554 CAOs, with 76% in swine production (1.7 ϫ 10 6 animals, from a 285% increase in the past decade) and 23% in poultry (5.5 ϫ 10 5 animals). An estimated 5.9 ϫ 10 9 kg manure produced by swine and poultry during 1998 contributed ϳ4.1 ϫ 10 7 kg N and 1.4 ϫ 10 7 kg P to the Neuse watershed. About 20% of the area in the watershed now has enough manure from CAOs to exceed the P requirements of all nonlegume crops and forages. About two-thirds of the N-and P-rich feeds for these animals are imported (with 4.0 ϫ 10 7 kg N and 1.6 ϫ 10 7 kg P in 1998); thus, the watershed increasingly has become a nutrient sink. Over the five-year study in the Neuse Estuary study area, P loading significantly declined (by an estimated 14%), whereas TN (total nitrogen) loading significantly increased (by an average of 16%) and TN i (total inorganic nitrogen) increased by ϳ38%. The increased inorganic N (N i ), partly related to severe storms with high precipitation in years 4-5, coincided with a decrease in phytoplankton biomass (as chlorophyll a) that likely reflected displacement/washout of algal populations and cysts. Thus, while both N and P supplies have increased in the watershed, there is evidence for a significant increase in N i loading but, as yet, no apparent signal for increased P in the lower estuary.Weather patterns ultimately control when/whether the elevated N i supply will support increased algal production, so that estuarine algal blooms, hypoxia, and fish kills will remain difficult, at best, to predict in mode...

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Swine Lagoon Effluent Applied to ‘Coastal’ Bermudagrass: III. Irrigation and Rainfall Runoff

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Hurricane Effects on Water Quality and Benthos in the Cape Fear Watershed: Natural and Anthropogenic Impacts

Hurricane Effects on Water Quality and Benthos in the Cape Fear Watershed: Natural and Anthropogenic Impacts

Phosphorus and Other Soil Components in a Dairy Effluent Sprayfield within the Central Florida Ridge

Water Quality Trends and Management Implications From a Five-Year Study of a Eutrophic Estuary

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