Poll.. 1. Agri. Sci. Vol. 33, 1996 SOIL AND PLANT HEALTH IRRIGATED WITH PAHARANG DRAIN SEWAGE EFFLUENTS AT FAISALABAD Abdul Ghafoor, Abdul Rauf & Mohammad Arif Department of Soil Science. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad Quality of the Paharang drain effluents at Faisalabad and its surrounding industrial units with respect to EC, SAR, RSC, macro- and micro-nutrients and impact on soils as well as plants was assessed. It was found that all the contributing industrial effluents have higher concentration of solutes than that of the main drain at Marzipura and Uchkera villages though all were unfit for irrigation. The effluents from the Walayat flour mills were of much better quality than the others. The fields under cauliflower and Chinese squash contained higher concentrations of Na, Ca, Mg, Cl, S04' Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Ni ions and total soluble salts than those in the canal irrigated fields in the same locality. Solute concentration was high at 0 to IS cm soil depth in fields receiving sewage water but decreased with soil depth. The concentrations of P, Fe, Mn, and Zn ions were much higher in soil compared to common observation and belief that makes further studies imperative. The fields receiving sewage water for 8 to 10 years were still not salinized/sodicated. The concentrations of N, P, K. Ca , Mg and Cl in leaves and fruits of both the vegetables were almost within safe limits. but leaves contained higher levels of these ions compared to those in their respective fruits. Kry words: plant health, Paharang drain. sewage effluents INTRODUCTION Supplies of good quality Irrigation water are expected to decrease in future because the development of new water resources will not keep pace with increasing water needs of agriculture. industries and municipalities. Some of these future water needs can be met by using available water supplies more efficiently, but in many cases it will be necessary to make increased use of municipal waste waters and agricultural drainage water. TI1is strategy will help solve disposal problems of effluents as well. However, aside from high NPK or heavy metal contents. EC and SAR of sewage effluents will be higher than those of the canal water (Miyarnoto , 1993; Ghafoor et al., 1(95) Fanners near big cities of Pakistan are applying sewage water fix growing vegetables and other crops for the last many years. In previous studies (Ibrahim and Salmon, 1992a,b) only temporal and spatial variability in quality of main drains effluents was monitored. In a few studies, soil and plant health was evaluated (Bhatti cl al., 1978; Ghafoor et al., 19(5). In the present studies. it was planned to assess the quality of effluents from the individual industrial units situated along the Paharang drain from Nisharabad to Uchkera, Faisalabad with respect to EC, SAR. RSC and heavy metals. In addition, chemistry of Jp soils and plants receiving Paharang drain sewage for irrigation was studied. I MA TERIALS AND METHODS The studies wen: conducted in four fields under each of the cauliflower and Chinese squash receiving sewage water for irrigation located at Marzipura and Uchkera villages near the Faisalabad city. One canal water irrigated field for each crop was also selected for comparison. Composite soil samples from 0 to 15, IS to 30, 30 to 60, 60 to 90 and 90 to 120 cm soil depths were drawn during the months of November and December, 1993. The sewage water samples from different establishments and at the experiment sites were also collected for chemical analysis. Fully expanded and developed leaves and fruits of both the vegetables were analysed after washing thoroughly with distilled water. The methods of analysis used were those of Page et al. (1982) for saturated soil paste extract, J ackson (1962) for N, Lindsay and Norvell (1978) for Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni from soil and sewage water. The plant analysis was accomplished using di- acid (I-INO, + I-ICI0 4 ) wet digestion. The Cl in plants were determined by the method of Pitman (1965). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Quality of Scwagc Watcr: Waste effluents from different industries and main drain as shown by data given in Table I were untit for irrigation with respect to EC. SAR, RSC and Cl. However, values of these parameters were relatively low for the Walayat flour mills. All the other chemical species such as P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb and Ni were found well below the critical levels (lames, 1971; Ayers and Westcot, 1989). It is worth mentioning that if such waters are treated for controlling the adverse effects of ECj " and SAR", on soil and plant health as well as their consumers, consequent concentration of nutrients in sewage water would have cost-effectiveness in the crop husbandry instead of creating problems of toxicity. Management of sewage water for irrigation may include blending, cyclic or rotational use of sewage effluents with canal water (Rhoades , 19(0). Experimental Soils: The experimental soils were sandy clay 73