We completed 26 interviews with 34 individuals 35 83 years of age living in rural and semirural areas within approximately 1 mile of sewage sludge land application sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Although differences in the composition and treatment of sewage sludge, land application methods, and geographic features of application sites make the transferability of results to other locations uncertain, case reports indicate that similar health and quality of life issues are raised in other states and countries (Harrison and Oakes 2002; Lewis et al. 2002; Lowman et al. 2011; Shields 2002).
To be eligible for the study, participants needed to be ≥ 18 years of age, live within 1 mile of a permitted sewage sludge land application site, speak English, and be willing to spend 1 2 hr responding to a semistructured, open-ended interview about their experiences living near the site.
Pooled data showed increased wheat grain yield by 30%% in sewage-irrigated land compared to bore well-irrigated land due to increased soil fertility as a result of continuous sewage irrigation.
Increased wheat grain yield in sewage-irrigated land compared to bore well-irrigated land was attributed to increased soil fertility that was a result of continuous sewage irrigation.
Both, sewage-irrigated land and bore well-irrigated lands were silt clay loam.
Crop raised in sewage-irrigated land showed better growth and photosynthesis due to more chlorophyll content.
The higher organic carbon content in sewage-irrigated land (0.89 %) increased the activity of dehydrogenase enzyme which is reported as soil ecotoxilogial testing parameter and thereby improved available nutrient status especially nitrogen in sewage-irrigated land (Tables 7, 8).
The concentration of nitrogen in both soil and plant was significantly higher in sewage-irrigated land (Salakinkop and Hunshal 2008b).
Crop growth in terms of photosynthesis, net assimilation rate and dry matter production significantly increased in sewage-irrigated land compared to bore well-irrigated land.
