Magnetized Saline Water Irrigation Enhances Soil Chemical and Physical Properties

Abstract

Due to rapid population growth and pressure on water resources, it is necessary to use economic and non-traditional techniques for irrigation. One of these techniques is the use of salt water after treatment with a magnetic force. A simulation experiment was conducted with soil columns using three quantities of saline water: 0, 3, and 6 g L−1 (S0, S3, and S6). Magnetic forces of 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 gauss were used to study the effects of magnetic forces on leachate and soil physicochemical properties at different depths. The results at all soil depths showed that the pH decreased with increasing salinity from S0 to S3 and S6 by an average of 8.44, 8.28, and 8.27%, respectively. Soil EC decreased significantly with depth by 10–35%. The maximum SAR, SSP, and CROSS values (16.3, 51.1, and 17.6, respectively) were reported when no magnetic force was used, while the lowest values (13.9, 49.9, and 15.3) were recorded when using 3000 gauss under S6 within the soil profile. Magnetizing the water halved the EC of the leachate under S0, while it decreased the EC by 12.4% under S3. Increasing the magnetic force enhanced the leachate SAR, SSP, and CROSS values by 4.9–20.4% on average under S3 and S6. Magnetic forces augmented the hydraulic conductivity at the same salinity level and with increasing salinity, resulting in an increment of 50% at S3 and S6 compared with S0. After nine hours, the maximum cumulative infiltration rate was under 1000 and 4000 gauss. Our results demonstrated the important effects of magnetically treated irrigation water and could therefore support its application in agriculture under conditions of low water resources and quality.