Effect of Sucrose, Chloride and Formalin on the Reduction Rate of Nitrate Moving in a Soil Column

In an attempt to quantify the effect of sucrose, chloride and formalin on the loss of NO₃⁻ moving through a lateritic sandy loam soil column, it was noted that while appreciable amount of nitrate was lost during leaching of the added pulse with or without sucrose, the entire amount of added chloride was recovered under identical conditions. When 1% formalin accompanied nitrate, the loss of the latter was considerably reduced. The nitrate reduction rate constant ranged from 0.01 h⁻¹ in the formalin treated column to 0.06 h⁻¹ when sucrose accompained nitrate.