| Abstract: |
Due to rapid population growth and pressure on water resources, it is necessary to use
economic and non-traditional techniques for irrigation. One of these techniques is the use of salt
water after treatment with a magnetic force. A simulation experiment was conducted with soil
columns using three quantities of saline water: 0, 3, and 6 g L−1
(S0
, S3
, and S6
). Magnetic forces
of 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 gauss were used to study the effects of magnetic
forces on leachate and soil physicochemical properties at different depths. The results at all soil
depths showed that the pH decreased with increasing salinity from S0
to S3 and S6 by an average
of 8.44, 8.28, and 8.27%, respectively. Soil EC decreased significantly with depth by 10–35%. The
maximum SAR, SSP, and CROSS values (16.3, 51.1, and 17.6, respectively) were reported when no
magnetic force was used, while the lowest values (13.9, 49.9, and 15.3) were recorded when using
3000 gauss under S6 within the soil profile. Magnetizing the water halved the EC of the leachate
under S0
, while it decreased the EC by 12.4% under S3. Increasing the magnetic force enhanced the
leachate SAR, SSP, and CROSS values by 4.9–20.4% on average under S3 and S6
. Magnetic forces
augmented the hydraulic conductivity at the same salinity level and with increasing salinity, resulting
in an increment of 50% at S3 and S6 compared with S0
. After nine hours, the maximum cumulative
infiltration rate was under 1000 and 4000 gauss. Our results demonstrated the important effects of
magnetically treated irrigation water and could therefore support its application in agriculture under
conditions of low water resources and quality.
|
|
|