Soil self-purification - meaning, stages and processes

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Self-purification of the soil is a rather long and complicated process for nature. This is the process of converting harmful organic substances into useful inorganic substances. All harmful substances that enter the soil are filtered after some time and lose any negative and harmful properties.

Soil self-purification processes

Soil has the most unique self-purification properties. Soil microorganisms are engaged in this business. Also the level of moisture, oxygen and physico-chemical properties play an important role. Soil microorganisms filter harmful waste that enters the soil in the form of untreated water. Various solids linger in the pores of the upper layers of the soil.

It could be:

• excrement;

• animal and plant remains;

• household waste.

The rate of decomposition depends on the level of oxygen in the soil. Aerobic or anaerobic treatment helps to decompose organic matter.

Aerobic conditions

Self-purification of the soil in this way goes like this:

• in soilfatty acids are produced;

• then break down into various gaseous substances in the form of methane, organic alcohols and carbon dioxide.

Fats themselves decompose much more slowly than carbohydrates. First, fats are broken down into fatty acids, and after that the process described above takes place. With a lack of oxygen in the soil, a lot of odorless fatty and volatile acids are formed. Substances containing a large amount of nitrogenous compounds also enter the soil. They belong to the category of products of protein metabolism. Going through long stages of cleavage, they slowly turn into amino acids. Most proteins use amino acids as their energy material. Ammonification takes place at the beginning of mineralization. Urea is also involved in the process of mineralization, which eventually turns into ammonia. In the final stage of mineralization, virtually all substances are converted into nitrates. After that, all plants receive nutrients.

Anaerobic Conditions

To understand the importance of soil self-purification, it is necessary to study anaerobic conditions. Under such conditions, the soil is oversaturated with waste, resulting in a large moisture capacity and capillarity. In addition to nitrification, the process of denitrification takes place, where nitrate microorganisms are reduced to nitrites, ammonia and nitrogen oxides. This occurs in conditions of lack of oxygen and contributes to the rapid restoration of the soil. Also, during denitrification, atmospheric air receives additional saturation with nitrogen. Howthe faster the soil is cleared of organic pollution, the faster the biological pollution will turn into useful resources, which are called fertilizer or compost. Mostly pathogenic microorganisms and helminth eggs die from drying out, which helps to cleanse the soil.

Humus formation

As a result of self-purification, humus is formed - this is a special organic substance that contributes to greater soil fertility. In the people it is called humus. As you can see, organic components that somehow got into the soil in the form of pollution gradually turn back into useful substances. They can be used as fertilizers. Unfortunately, spore-forming forms cannot turn into something useful for the soil. In order for humus to form, on average, it takes the entire warm season until the start of the first frost. It takes an average of a year or two to form compost. If there are chickens on the farm, then it is desirable that they sort it out constantly, then the compost will become a useful fertilizer much faster. Thanks to compost, you can significantly increase the yield without the use of chemicals.

Soil protection activities

In order to maintain the quality of the soil at a level that will not allow the development of various kinds of diseases, it is necessary to carry out a set of measures that will not only save, but also increase productivity. For this purpose, special examinations are created, which:

• engage in he alth surveillancesoil;

• carry out planning activities;

• carry out hygienic rationing;

• create legislative, technological sanitary and technical conditions that contribute to the rapid and effective cleansing of the soil.

The most important aspect in soil sanitary protection is the development of hygienic standards. These guidelines help determine how safe or unsafe a particular substance is for the soil. But all these standards are still poorly developed, since only 200 of them have been developed, while more than tens of thousands of such substances enter the soil.

Technical measures are aimed at creating waste-free or low-waste production at enterprises, as well as minimizing the possible level of pollution. To neutralize solid waste, you must:

• carry out hydrolysis;

• build waste incinerators;

• build biometric processing plants;

• compost;

• categorize waste for recycling.

Self-purification of the soil will be completely ineffective if, at the modern pace of life and production, waste processing and cleaning of liquid waste is not carried out. For this purpose, sewage is carried out or sewers are installed. If it is not possible to equip your house with sewage, yard latrines are needed. According to sanitary and hygienic standards, they should be at a distance of no closer than 20 meters from the residential sector. To prevent contamination of the soil, you need once a day a place near the toiletsprinkle with bleach. If this is not possible, then you should try to clean the cesspools at least once every 2 months.

It is also necessary to equip such facilities with drainage so that the waste goes through pipes into the reservoir and is purified there by hydrolysis.

Stages of soil self-purification

They look like this:

1. During decay, aeration occurs, that is, the absorption of oxygen; mineralization and formation of mineral substances; humification, that is, the formation of humus.
2. Fermentation consumes energy and produces fetid gases in the form of ammonia, methane, hydrogen, and more.
3. Nitrification is an oxidative process.
4. Denitrification - depletion of the soil with useful nitrogenous substances.

The article lists all the main stages of self-purification of the soil, as well as a set of activities that a person can carry out independently. The fact is that the soil can self-cleanse without the negative influence of man. Therefore, the task of mankind is to minimize the impact on the soil and reduce the amount of waste, because nature does not cope with them in full. If soil pollution continues at the same pace, then in 20 years people will not be able to eat clean and uncontaminated food, which is very dangerous for he alth.