CHEMICAL INTERACTIONS OF WASTEWATER IN A SOIL ENVIRONMENT

"The soil is one of three great natural reservoirs where dangerous pollutants can accumulate. . . . (It) has a great capacity for receiving and decompos ing wastes and pollutants of many kinds" (1). This quotation was found in a recent paper which has been hailed as a significant plan for restoring the quality of the environment by effective waste management and control. In this paper the same type of reason ing is extended to the concept of the assimilative capacity of soils. It is recognized that soil has been used as a waste disposal and water reclamation resource for many years. However, the intense interest in air and water pollu tion has overshadowed the role that the soil environment plays in the overall environmental quality picture. This apparent neglect is principally because past disposal of wastewater to soil usually has been highly effective. However, recent urbanization and in dustrialization have concentrated soil disposal areas and created volumes and types of wastewater which no longer are assimilated readily (2). In addition, ground and surface water pollution from soil disposal sources has become increasingly evident. As with watercourses, soil has a definite assimilative capacity that can be exceeded. Thus, information re