What is water soluble anionic polyacrylamide (PAM)?

Water soluble anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) is a highly effective erosion preventing and infiltration enhancing polymer, when applied at rates of 1–10 g m −3 in furrow irrigation water. PAM greatly reduces sediment, nutrients, pesticides and coliform bacteria in irrigation runoff.

What is a polyacrylamide copolymer?

Polyacrylamide application The polyacrylamide copolymer used was a dry granular material having an approximate molecular weight of 12–15 Mg mole −1, with an 18% negative charge density (provided by CYTEC Industries of Wayne, NJ and marketed under the trade name Superfloc 836A).

What are polyacrylamide compounds used for?

Polyacrylamide compounds are used in many industrial processes to accelerate flocculation or at high concentrations as lubricants or sealing or suspending agents. PAM degradation in soil was found to be approximately 10% year −1 (Barvenik, 1994, Tolstikh et al., 1992).

Why is polyacrylamide used in furrow irrigated agriculture?

1. Introduction Polyacrylamide (PAM) has been used in furrow irrigated agriculture for erosion control and increased infiltration (Lentz et al., 1992, Lentz and Sojka, 1994, Sojka et al., 1998a, Sojka et al., 1998b).

Does 10 kg Pam ha 1 affect coliform bacteria concentrations?

Spackman et al. (2003) found that 10 kg PAM ha −1 did not affect concentrations of total or fecal coliform bacteria in irrigation water, soil water or soils in the presence of a dense grass stand acting as a filterstrip.

How fast does acrylamide monomer degrade in soil?

PAM degradation in soil was found to be approximately 10% year −1 (Barvenik, 1994, Tolstikh et al., 1992). Degradation of the acrylamide monomer (AMD) is fairly rapid (Lande et al., 1979, Shanker et al., 1990, Kay-Shoemake et al., 1998a). AMD was completely degraded within 5 days after applying 500 kg PAM kg −1 garden soil (Shanker et al., 1990).