The cultivation of Eucalyptus urograndis seedlings irrigated with domestic sewage effluent of a treatment plant with anaerobic reactor and polishing pond was evaluated. Seedling pots were irrigated based on the soil pot capacity (PC) in six treatments (T) with four repetitions each. The pots in T1, T2, T3 and T4 were irrigated with slide heights at 100, 80, 60 and 40% of the PC index, respectively; in T5 and T6, irrigation was only with water and slide heights at 80% of PC. Only T5 received additional nutrients (NPK). Along the experiment (3 months), the treatment plant showed good removal efficiencies of biochemical oxygen demand (90%), chemical oxygen demand (87%) and helminth eggs (100%); therefore, with adequate effluent quality for tree irrigation. T2 and T3 showed the best results in terms of plant development parameters, like height, stalk diameter, cup diameter, number of leaves and dry matter; comparatively, T2 showed the highest nitrogen accumulation in the leaves and stalks. The results show that cultivation of eucalyptus seedlings irrigated with treated sewage, taking advantage of the nutrients and with adequate slide heights (between 80 and 60% of PC index), is agronomically viable.
anaerobic reactor; polishing pond; pot capacity; irrigation slide height; agronomical performance; reuse
