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Organic Materials Differ in Ability to Remove Protons, Iron and Aluminium from Acid Sulfate Soil Drainage Water

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Abstract

Drainage water from acid sulfate soils with sulfuric material has high concentrations of protons and dissolved metals which can have detrimental effects on the surrounding ecosystems. Liming is expensive; therefore, alternative methods are needed. Organic materials such as plant residues, compost or biochars can bind protons and metals but have not been evaluated with respect to remediation of acid drainage water from acid sulfate soils. In this study, eight organic materials (compost, two straws and five biochars differing in feed stock and production temperature) were placed in small PVC cores at 1.5 g C/core and synthetic acid drainage water (pH 3, 28 mg Fe/l and 2 mg Al/l, properties based on long-term averages of drainage water from sulfuric acid sulfate soils) was applied in four leaching events. Mallee biochar produced at 550 °C and wheat biochar produced at 450 °C had high retention capacity for protons, Fe and Al. Retention was low in compost and wheat straw. Retention of protons was positively correlated with organic C concentration of the materials. Retention of Fe and Al was correlated with percentage alkyl, aryl and ketone groups. Other properties such as release of native Fe and Al and amount of material per core could explain differences in ability of organic materials to retain protons, Fe and Al. We conclude that some organic materials such as mallee biochar produced at 550 °C and wheat biochar produced at 450 °C could be used to remediate acidic drainage water.

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Acknowledgments

Tan Dang is grateful to the Vietnam International Education Development (VIED) for providing the postgraduate scholarship.

We thank Lynne Macdonald for providing the biochars, Seyed Hadi Madani for analysing surface area, Ron Smernik for NMR analysis and Bogumila Tomczak for measuring Al and Fe by ICP-MS.

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  1. School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Tan Dang & Petra Marschner

  2. Acid Sulfate Soils Centre, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Luke M. Mosley & Rob Fitzpatrick

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  1. Tan Dang
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Correspondence to Petra Marschner.

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Table S1: leachate volume in four leaching events after addition of 45 ml synthetic drainage water to different organic materials. Table S2: Proton retention over four leaching events and cumulative leaching after passage of synthetic drainage water through different organic materials. Values in a column followed by different letters are significantly different (P≤ 0.05). Table S3: Fe retention over four leaching events and cumulative leaching after passage of synthetic drainage water through different organic materials. Values in a column followed by different letters are significantly different (P≤ 0.05). Table S4: Al retention over four leaching events and cumulative leaching after passage of synthetic drainage water through different organic materials. Values in a column followed by different letters are significantly different (P≤ 0.05). Table S5: Correlation between proton retention in the first leaching event and cumulative retention of first and second leaching events in organic materials and their properties. Table S6: Correlation between Fe retention in the first and second leaching event and cumulative retention of first and second leaching events in organic materials and their properties. Table S7: Correlation between Al retention in the first and second leaching event and cumulative retention of first and second leaching events in organic materials and their properties. (DOCX 41.1 kb)

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Dang, T., Mosley, L.M., Fitzpatrick, R. et al. Organic Materials Differ in Ability to Remove Protons, Iron and Aluminium from Acid Sulfate Soil Drainage Water. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 357 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2595-z

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