Hydrogeology and Examination of Soil Fertility

The primary mission of the hydro-geochemistry laboratory is to study problems and provide solutions in the field of environmental geochemistry.

About

At present, several projects are underway:

Evaluation of the use of aluminum and iron water treatment residuals (Al/Fe-WTR) to recapture phosphorous from agro-industrial wastewaters (WW) and reapply it as fertilizer in selected crops.
Development of new technologies that involve integrated systems, including the use of halophytes to treat dairy WW by removing sodium, enabling use of the WW for irrigation.
Testing the combined application of compost and zeolites to improve the nutrient status of selected crops (we recently introduced this idea of improving initial planting conditions in a re-afforestation study of semi-arid and Mediterranean watersheds).
A study of specialized wetland techniques of nutrient removal from soil leachates in intensive farming settings.
Evaluation of the impact of eco-tourism practices on the fate and transport of N and P in reconstructed wetland complexes.

Most recently, we have begun exploring an integrated system of proximal soil survey techniques and advanced geo-statistical methodologies, coupled with advanced computations, to evaluate the spatial variations of soil fertility in the context of precision agriculture.

The research in the hydro-geochemistry lab is currently supported by grants from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the US-Israel BARD project, and the BRIGAID project of Horizon 2020.

Principal Researcher

Prof. Michael (Iggy) Litaor

Hydrogeology and Examination of Soil Fertility

972-54-6780076

litaori@telhai.ac.il

The main research activities in the hydro-geochemistry lab are: (1) The design, testing and implementation of constructed wetland for the treatment of organic-rich effluents such as wineries & olive mill wastewaters.

Team