In Situ Accumulation of Copper, Chromium, Nickel, and Zinc in Soils Used for Long-term Waste Water Reclamation.

The article discusses a study which examined the long-term in situ accumulation of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in the soil profile of an effluent recharge basin at a wastewater reclamation plant in Israel. The study was designed to quantify the accumulation of metals in the soil profile of the basin, explain retention mechanisms and determine material balances and metal removal efficiency in relation to metal load increase. Study researchers concluded that the low long-term removal efficiency of the metals may be due to the low concentrations of metals in the recharged effluent and low adsorption affinity and retention capacity of sandy soil.