Assessment of the Suitability of Refinery Treated Waste Water for Irrigation of Some Tree Species

Abstract

The present work investigate the suitability of the discharged waste water from the Khartoum Refinery company (KRC) facility of Elgili located at about 73 km north of Khartoum . The objective of the study is to dispose of the waste water discharge of Khartoum refinery using suitable tree crops. Six different tree species are selected this tree is: Acacia tortilis, Eucalyptus camadulensis, Azadirachta indica, Grewia tenax, Eugenia Jambolana and Conocarpus erectus Two experiments were conducted, the first experiment was a pot nursery experiment where the same six tree species were irrigated with either refinery waste water and tap water. The treatment was replicated three times. The second was a field trial experiment, where six different trees species both indigenous and exotics were used (ACRBD). A design was used with four replications. In addition a chemical and physical soil analysis was undertaken including water soluble cations and anions, pH, EEC, OC, total N content and particle size distribution water analysis for BOD, pH, EC soluble cations and oil content was performed Measurement from the field and nursery pot experiment included total pant height root collar diameter number of leaves and number of branches. Date collected was subjected to analysis of variance and the statistical method system. Results showed highly significant differences between the tree species treated with discharged refinery waste water in the field trail. The most tolerant species to refinery waste water were Concarpus erectus and Acacia tortilis while the most sensitive was Grewa tennax Generally the remainder of the species shows significant differences between them. Result from the nursery pot experiment followed the same trend in variation between the six tree species in addition to a significant variation between the two irrigation treatments. The study recommends the planting of Conocarpus erectus and Acacia tortillas this for their tolerance to refinery waste water and their better performance and study and adaptation to the planting site