The aim of this study was to determine the potential development of water sorptivity of soil aggregates by heating. Soil aggregates were sampled from arable layer of 5 Polish soils: Haplic Luvisol 1 from Czesławice, Haplic Luvisol 2 from Wierzchucinek, Haplic Cambisol from Felin, Gleyic Mollic Cambisol from Chylice, and Haplic Phaeozem from Grabiec. Three aggregates of each soil type with minimum diameter between 4 and 10 mm were heated in the oven for at least 3 hours at temperatures 20, 100, 200, 250, and 360ºC. After each temperature treatment the soil aggregates were conditioned at the room temperature for 16 hours. Laboratory measurements of water sorptivity of soil aggregates were performed under a negative tension h0 = -2 cm using tension infiltrometer. It was found that the exposure to temperatures between 100 and 200°C tends to decrease water sorptivity of aggregates from all the studied soils but one (Haplic Luvisol 1), followed by about two- to four-fold increase in water sorptivity for exposure to temperatures of 250°C (in Haplic Luvisol 1, Haplic Luvisol 2, and Haplic Phaeozem) or 360°C (in Haplic Cambisol and Gleyic Mollic Cambisol).
Water repellency is a relative (and a little misleading) term because no surface actually exerts a repelling force on a liquid. There is always some attraction between a liquid and any solid. The affinity (hydrophilicity) or repellency (hydrophobicity) between water and solid surfaces originates from mutual attractive forces (adhesion) and the attraction between the water molecules (cohesion). Soil water repellency is generally attributed to hydrophobic organic matter coating soil particles or accumulating in the soil environment. The definition of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, based on the contact angle α between water and a solid, reads: if α < 90°, the solid is wettable, if α ≥ 90°, the solid is water repellent (Adamson, 1990). Another definition of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, based on the surface-free energy, reads: solid surfaces with a surface-free energy σsa > 72.75 mN m-1 attract water and are therefore hydrophilic. Solid surfaces with a surface-free energy σsa < 72.75 mN m-1 are hydrophobic (Doerr et al., 2000). Soil water repellency (WR) is characterised using three parameters: severity (degree) of WR, persistence of WR, and index of WR. The most frequently used techniques for the severity and persistence of WR measurements are MED (molarity of ethanol droplet) and WDPT (water drop penetration time) test, respectively. and Vodoodpudivosť je relatívny (a trochu zavádzajúci) pojem, pretože žiadny povrch tuhej látky nepôsobí na kvapalinu odpudivou, ale vždy príťažlivou silou. Afinita (hydrofilnosť) alebo odpudivosť (hydrofóbnosť) medzi vodou a povrchom tuhej látky vzniká zo vzájomných príťažlivých síl (adhézia) a príťažlivých síl medzi molekulami vody (kohézia). Vodoodpudivosť pôdy sa všeobecne pripisuje hydrofóbnej organickej hmote, ktorá buď pokrýva pôdne častice alebo je akumulovaná v pôdnom prostredí. Definícia hydrofóbnosti a hydrofilnosti, založená na veľkosti uhla omáčania, znie: ak je uhol omáčania α menší ako 90°, tuhá látka je zmáčavá, ak je väčší alebo sa rovná 90°, tuhá látka je vodoodpudivá (Adamson, 1990). Iná definícia hydrofóbnosti a hydrofilnosti, založená na povrchovej voľnej energii, znie: povrch tuhej látky s povrchovou voľnou energiou σsa > 72,75 mN m-1 je hydrofilný a povrch tuhej látky s povrchovou voľnou energiou σsa < 72,75 mN m-1 je hydrofóbny (Doerr et al., 2000). Vodoodpudivosť je charakterizovaná tromi parametrami: veľkosť, stálosť a index vodoodpudivosti. Najčastejšie používanou metódou na meranie veľkosti vodoodpudivosti pôdy je MED test, v ktorom sa povrchová voľná energia pôdy určuje z molarity kvapky etanolu, ktorá vnikne do pôdy za určitý čas. Najčastejšie používanou metódou na meranie stálosti vodoodpudivosti pôdy je WDPT test, pri ktorom sa meria čas, potrebný na infiltráciu kvapky destilovanej vody do pôdy.
The main hydrological and geomorphological impacts of soil water repellency are: (a) reduced infiltration capacity; (b) increased overland flow; (c) spatially localised infiltration and/or percolation, often with fingered flow development; (d) effects on the three-dimensional distribution and dynamics of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, as well as plant germination and growth; (e) enhanced streamflow responses to rainstorm; (f) enhanced total streamflow; and (g) enhanced soil erosion. Surfactants (wetting agents), clay, and municipal solid waste compost were found to be successful in mitigation of the consequences of soil water repellency. and Hlavné hydrologické a geomorfologické dôsledky vodoodpudivosti sú: (a) zmenšenie rýchlosti infiltrácie vody do pôdy, (b) zväčšenie povrchového prúdenia, (c) priestorovo lokalizovaná infiltrácia a/alebo perkolácia a prúdenie prstami, (d) účinky na trojrozmerné rozdelenie a dynamiku pôdnej vlhkosti, evapotranspiráciu, ako aj klíčenie a rast rastlín, (e) zväčšenie odtoku po búrke, (f) zväčšenie celkového odtoku a (g) zväčšenie erózie pôdy. Dôsledky vodoodpudivosti pôdy možno zmierniť aplikáciou povrchovo aktívnych látok (zmáčadiel), ílu a kompostu z tuhého komunálneho odpadu.