A modified ceramic sampler and lysimeter design for improved monitoring of soil leachates

This paper describes the design and use of modified solution samplers and non-weighing lysimeters in a field experiment examining the response of a turf–soil system to landfill leachate irrigation over a 2-year period. The two designs were shown to offer significant performance advantages, were cost effective and overcame many of the reported problems commonly associated with each technique. The quantities of leached chloride detected in the 20%, 50% and undiluted leachate irrigated plots by the modified solution samplers (1677, 4319 and 8021 kg ha−1, respectively) and microlysimeters (1759, 4512 and 8160 kg ha−1, respectively) were significantly higher than the conventional sampler design (1407, 3767 and 7052 kg ha−1, respectively). Additionally, the microlysimeter design functioned reliably throughout the experiment, achieving solution flow rates analogous to the unconfined plots. Therefore, it was concluded that both the designs appear to be suitable for monitoring changes in soil solution composition associated with sub-surface wastewater irrigation.