Irrigation of agriculture field by untreated wastewater is a common practice in the water scarce regions in India. Increasing water crisis has forced the farmers to use untreated or partially treated wastewater in their agricultural fields. In this study, agricultural soil irrigated with textile effluent was examined at five different sites on the basis of proximity to the source and analysed for physicochemical and microbiological properties. Further, the co-relation of physicochemical properties with soil enzyme was also studied. The results revealed that soil respiration and microbial biomass carbon reduced by 53.8% and 65.9%, respectively in the contaminated site as compared to control site, emphasizing the deleterious impact of effluent on the study site. Additionally, the bacterial population and dehydrogenase enzyme reduced by 41.6%, and 71%, respectively in the effluent affected soil as compared to the control site. Soil organic carbon showed a strong positive correlation (p ≤ 0. 01) with soil enzyme activity. Other physicochemical and microbiological properties of the affected soil indicated negative impact on both soil quality and microbiota.
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