Institute of Soil Bioengineering and Landscape Construction, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 25;836:155745. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155745. Epub 2022 May 5.
Water is the key resource in fulfilling the cooling function of plants in urban environments and needs to be supplied reliably and adequately, especially during dry periods. To avoid an unsustainable use of high-quality drinking water for irrigation, the reuse of greywater should be implemented for Green Infrastructure irrigation in the sense of the circular economy. In this study, the influence of greywater irrigation on vitality of two trees species, Tilia cordata and Acer pseudoplatanus, was determined by investigating the effect of irrigation with raw or treated greywater in comparison to municipal tap water. Plant growth parameters were measured, including leaf area, number of leaves, average leaf area and annual growth. In addition, the relative chlorophyll content was determined and image analysis was used to identify vital and necrotic leaf parts. While treatment did not affect growth after one growing season A. pseudoplatanus had significantly higher leaf necrosis (34.8%) when irrigated with raw greywater compared to treated greywater (15.5%) and tap water (5.8%). Relative chlorophyll content of T. cordata irrigated with tap water decreased over time until it was significantly lower (28.5) then the greywater treatments (34.5 and 35). Image analysis of leaves to quantify necrosis proved to be a sensitive method to quantify plant health and showed negative effects earlier than an analysis of growth. Anionic surfactants and electrical conductivity had a significant influence on plant vitality. Therefore, plant selection should take these parameters into account, when planning green infrastructure irrigated with greywater.
水是城市环境中植物冷却功能的关键资源，需要可靠和充足地供应，特别是在干旱时期。为避免不可持续地使用高质量饮用水进行灌溉，应在循环经济意义上实施灰水再利用，用于绿色基础设施灌溉。在这项研究中，通过调查用原灰水或处理后的灰水与市政自来水灌溉对两种树种（椴树和欧洲白蜡）活力的影响，确定了灰水灌溉的影响。测量了植物生长参数，包括叶面积、叶片数、平均叶面积和年生长量。此外，还测定了相对叶绿素含量，并进行图像分析以识别有活力和坏死的叶片部分。虽然经过一个生长季后处理没有影响生长，但与处理后的灰水（15.5%）和自来水（5.8%）相比，用原灰水灌溉的欧洲白蜡的叶片坏死率（34.8%）显著更高。用自来水灌溉的椴树的相对叶绿素含量随着时间的推移而降低，直到显著低于（28.5）灰水处理（34.5 和 35）。用图像分析叶片坏死来定量植物健康是一种敏感的方法，比分析生长更早地显示出负面影响。阴离子表面活性剂和电导率对植物活力有显著影响。因此，在规划用灰水灌溉的绿色基础设施时，植物选择应考虑这些参数。
