Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

3-1980

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Biosystems Engineering

Major Professor

D.H. Luttrell

Committee Members

L.M. Safley Jr, C.H. Shelton, W.L. Parks, H.O. Vaigneur, B.L. Bledsoe

Abstract

Irrigation of grassland with feedlot runoff appears to be a practical solution to the problem of disposal of such material.

The major objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the effects on quality of surface water and groundwater of applying different rates of lagoon effluent on grassland plots, and (2) to determine effects on soil physical properties.

A lagoon effluent irrigation system at The University of Tennessee USDA Dairy Experiment Station at Lewisburg, Tennessee, served about 200 milk cows on a 8,826 m2 concrete lot from which runoff was collected into 3 drains and delivered by gravity flow into a 5,550 m3 lagoon. The lagoon effluent was pumped through 10.16 cm diameter aluminum pipe to fifteen experimental plots and applied to the plots via a sprinkler irrigation system. Each plot area was 40.5 m2 and had an average slope of 1 to 2 percent. Each plot was equipped with devices for the collection of surface runoff and shallow groundwater samples. Samples were collected following natural or simulated rainfall and analyzed for selected water quality parameters. Eighteen core samples of two types of soil, sandy loam and clay loam, were analyzed to determine the change in permeability and bulk density of soil due to the application of lagoon effluent having 0.0, 0.1, and 0,3 percent solid fibrous material.

The application of 2.54, 5.08, 7.62 and 10.16 cm depth of lagoon effluent to plots resulted in a high ammonia nitrogen concentration in surface runoff and groundwater from the plots which exceeded the maximum standard for raw surface water. The chemical oxygen demand concentration of the surface runoff and groundwater was much higher than that of nearby creek water.

Factors existing at the time of lagoon effluent application which affected water quality parameters measured in surface runoff from the plots were: rainfall amount and intensities, soil moisture of the root zone, delay in time between lagoon effluent application and the occurrence of rainfall, and the rate at which lagoon effluent was applied to the plots.

More reduction in the permeability and bulk density due to application of lagoon effluent occurred in the sandy loam soil than in the clay loam soil. The application of lagoon effluent with high solid fibrous material content caused more reduction in soil permeability and bulk density than lagoon effluent with low solid fibrous material content.

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