Examining Selected Physico-chemical Properties of Soil under Contaminated and Control Conditions

Abstract

The processing of oil palm results in the production of contaminated wastewater commonly referred as Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), though this is just one of the waste generated during the processing of the fresh fruits. In this study, soil obtained from the POME disposable sites is referred as contaminated soil. This study was conducted across three locations (Vika, Aro and Jubilee) and selected physicochemical properties (pH, conductivity, organic carbon (OC), moisture content (MC), bulk density, cation exchange capacity (CEC), oil and grease of soil from POME contaminated sites and control sites were determined based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Obtained mean values were collated for statistical analysis to obtain mean standard deviations and p-values using the ANOVA and student’s t-test. Results revealed that the pH of the contaminated soil samples across the mills were acidic with a high mean CEC.  The moisture content of the contaminated samples was notably high which could be attributed to the high concentration of organic matter in POME to retain water in the soil. Mean conductivity was significantly high alongside oil and grease concentrations at the mills ranging between 105.75 ± 0.03 (Jubilee) and 790.30 ± 1.00 (Vika). The relatively high values of different physicochemical properties of the contaminated soil against the control site present the palm oil mill effluent as a potential material which could be converted into organic manure and applied back to the plantation rather than disposed-off as an agro-pollutant.