Effects of Degraded Water for Irrigation on Soil Microbial Communities.

There is an increasing severe shortage of fresh water supply in many communities across the globe due to economic development, population growth, large water demands of irrigated agriculture and inadequate water infrastructure. This shortage has affected food supply and public health. Therefore, reuse of degraded waters for irrigation as substitutes for fresh waters could be one solution to the challenge. The potential for degraded water reuse is enormous, but the impacts of these waters on plant production, soil physical properties, and microbial composition and subsequently soil quality require considerable investigation. Our results suggest that reuse water with high SAR has the potential to influence the natural variability among soil biota that may result in changes in soil quality. Further research is needed to evaluate the impact of these differences relevant to plant production and favorable soil physical properties.