This paper evaluates the behaviour of a Rapid Infiltration System (RIS) working on a 1.250 m2 mined plot of Dark Redish Latosol in the Paranoá Lake catchment area (Brasília City, Brazil) over 2 years. Phosphorus is the current nutrient that poses the highest eutrophication risk to that water reservoir. On the other hand, the local soils are very poor in it and they present high phosphorus fixing capacity and high water infiltration capacity too. Furthermore, the stripped sites can not be rehabilitated without high inputs of organic matter. The implementation of the RIS induced the establishment of several species beloging to Graminae, Melastomataceae, and Compositae family. The phosphorus concentration increased 84 times in the 5-10 cm soil layer. Over 10 tonnes of organic matter and nearly 41 kg of phosphorus previously disposed into the Lake were kept in the soil. The RIS presented 88.3% of efficiency on phosphorus removal and was very successful for inducing site reclamation.
sewage; wastewater disposal; phosphorus; barren lands; reclamation
