HEAVY METALS TOXICITY ASSESSMENT IN DIFFERENT TEXTURED SOILS HAVING WASTEWATER IRRIGATION

Farmers are using municipal wastewater—either treated or untreated—for irrigation because of limited freshwater resources. The current study conducted a detailed survey of areas using consistent irrigation with wastewater. Soil and water samples collected from the selected sites include the suburbs of Sargodha, i.e., Chak No. 79, Raza Garden, Chak. No. 50Nb, Hameed Town, Istaqlalabad Colony, and underwent laboratory analysis. The maximum EC (3.64 dS m^-1) resulted in wastewater samples collected from Raza Garden and the highest SAR (7.04) and RSC (2.28 me L^-1) came from wastewater samples collected from Chak No. 79. Maximum lead, nickel, and arsenic analysis were 2.52, 0.15, and 0.06 mg L^-1, respectively, from wastewater samples collected from Chak. No. 50Nb, with a uniform concentration of cadmium (0.01 mg L^-1) in wastewater samples collected from all five mentioned sites e. The maximum pH (8.25), SAR (13.69), organic matter (0.68%), lead (11.56 mg kg^-1), cadmium (1.71 mg kg^-1), nickel (12.85 mg kg^-1), and arsenic (4.62 mg kg^-1) emerged from soil samples collected from the Raza Garden site. On the other hand, the highest EC (4.12 dS m^-1) occurred in soil samples of the Istaqlalabad Colony. Based on these results, an urgent advisory should reach the farming community not to use wastewater for irrigation in untreated form because it has ill effects on soil health, contaminating the plants.