Nature and Science, 2011;9(4) http://www.sciencepub.net/nature http://www.sciencepub.net/nature naturesciencej@gmail.com 82 Influence of Sewage Water Reuse Application on Soil and the Distribution of Heavy Metals Ahmed A. Afifi, Kh. M. Abd El -Rheem and Refat A. Youssef Soils and Water Use Dept., Agricultural and Biological Research Division National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt a.afifinrc@gmail.com Abstract: The study aims to investigate the effect of the sewage water reuse in soil and plant. The use of treated sewage water on soil has an advantage of improving soil texture in terms of organic enrichment, macro- and micronutrient elements. Remarkable increase in the level of heavy metals was observed as indicated by increasing the micronutrients available content in soil (Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu). The available content of heavy metal in soil was under the permissible levels. The longer term of irrigation is the higher accumulation of metals particularly on the top soil. While, the level of heavy metals decreases as soil depth increases. Nevertheless, accumulation of metals on the soil was still far behind the risky level. This is mainly due to the fact that the level of metals in sewage irrigation water was within the permissible level according to WHO. To eliminate the accumulation of metals on the soil, it is, therefore, recommended to use an additional treatment process such as addition of dried plant leaves or lime to decrease the level of metals in the sewage irrigation water. The use of drainage water in irrigation had the highest value of basic infiltration rate. Using sewage water or drainage water in irrigation of sugar beet led to increase the N, P and K of soils after harvesting. In addition to the dry matter content. [Ahmed A. Afifi, Kh. M. Abd El-Rheem and Refat A. Youssef. Influence of Sewage Water Reuse Application on Soil and the Distribution of Heavy Metals. Nature and Science 2011;9(4):82-88]. (ISSN: 1545-0740). http://www.sciencepub.net . Key words: wastewater reuse, heavy metals, soil and plant characteristics. 1. Introduction Egypt is located in arid region, water is becoming a very scarce resources. The planners are forced to consider any source of water which might be used economically and effectively to promote further development. With the increasing population at a high rate, the need for increasing food production is apparent. As a consequence, the mobilization of land and water resources is proceeding fast. The development of irrigation is especially dynamic way because it is often the most important factor for increasing agricultural production. This rapid development of irrigation translates into a sharply increasing water demand and the most accessible water resources, such as rivers and shallow aquifers are now almost entirely committed. Alternative water resources are therefore needed to satisfy further increases in demand. This is mainly a necessity in regions which are characterized by severe mismatches between water supply and demand, often associated to generally low water resources availability and asymmetries of availability and demand in a temporal and regional basis and a peculiar relationship among water and environment raise specific problems. The reuse of agricultural drainage water and treated sewage wastewater for beneficial purposes in Egypt is an attractive solution which hopefully will help considerably expansion of the irrigated agriculture or saving of fresh water for other sectors. UN projections (UN Population Division, 1994) show that four Mediterranean countries already have less than the minimum required water availability to sustain their own food production (750 m3/inh.yr). By 2025, eight countries will be in virtually the same situation. These countries are essentially all on the Southern border of the Mediterranean (see Table 1). The crisis is already so acute in Egypt, for example, domestic water consumption exceeds 50% of the available water resources. In such places, the conventional water resources will be insufficient to even meet the domestic water demand at the beginning of the next century. On the other hand, all the Mediterranean countries of the European Union are expected to maintain themselves at or above 3000 m3/inh yr. In the Mediterranean basin, wastewater has been used as a source of irrigation water for centuries. In addition to provide a low cost water source, the use of treated wastewater for irrigation in agriculture combines three advantages. First, using the fertilizing properties of the water (fertirrigation) eliminates part of the demand for synthetic fertilizers and contributes to decrease the level of nutrients in rivers. Second, the practice increases the available agricultural water resources and third, it may eliminate the need for expensive tertiary treatment. Irrigation with wastewater also appears to give some very interesting