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v FALL CREEK REPORT OF WASTE DISCHARGE . F.NGTNF.F.RTNG.INC- %w pH. pH is an indictor of the acidity or basicity of a water, but is seldom a problem by itself. The main use of pH in a water analysis is for detecting abnormal water quality. The normal pH range of irrigation water is 6.5 to 8.5. Typically, winery process wastewater has a lower pH typically %W ranging from 4 to 6. The average pH of the wastewater during the summer and crush period is %W expected to be about 5; the average pH of the non-crush wastewater/storm water is expected to be about 6. Low pH waters generally do not cause problems for soils or crops since soil is strongly buffered and resists change. Over time, if the soil pH appears to be shifting, a soil amendment, such as lime, can correct the soil pH problem. The greatest direct hazard of a low %W pH wastewater is the corrosive nature of the water and potential impact to irrigation equipment. %WBoron. Boron can become toxic at levels only slightly greater than required for good plant growth. Symptoms of excess boron include leaf tip and marginal burn leaf cupping, discoloration,premature leaf drop,branch dieback, and reduced growth. Source water quality `, should have a boron concentration below 1 mg/L for non-restrictive use for irrigation. �I. The available water quality data and previous use of process wastewater for irrigation indicate that the use of winery process wastewater and storm water for irrigation supply should not �- adversely impact the field. 4.3.4 Nutrient Uptake �• When using wastewater for irrigation, a frequent concern is the possibility of nitrate contamination of the underlying groundwater aquifer. The fate of nitrogen in applied wastewater depends on the proportion of nitrate in the downward soil solution that is intercepted and ` absorbed by plant roots. A crop does not utilize the entire inorganic N present in the root zone. The fraction of the total amount of assimilated nitrogen depends on the plant, depth, and distribution of roots, stage of growth, rate of water movement through the root zone, and other factors. The potential nitrogen uptake by the wastewater irrigated grass field was estimated based on the `• representative yield of the grass (Pettygrove and Asano, 1985). Table 4.5 presents the potential 1*W crop uptake of nitrogen for the field grasses based on the amount of acreage to be used at the winery and compares these values to the expected mass of nitrogen applied to the fields from the wastewater. The field is assumed to be planted with bermuda grass. Average total nitrogen in %W the process wastewater and storm water are estimated to be 25 and 1.5 mg/L, respectively(see %W Section 3.2). It was also assumed that the wetland would reduce total nitrogen in the wastewater by at least 70%. The comparison indicates that the total amount of nitrogen applied in the wastewater is less than �- 26% of what may be required. This implies that additional nitrogen fertilizer may be needed to `, satisfy the grasses nutrient requirements. �kw ,.. t4o. �Mr JESSIE'S GROVE WINERY 20 FEBRUARY 2004