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Land application has become a widely applied method for treating wastewater. However, it is not always clear which soil–plant systems should be used, or why. The objectives of our study were to determine if four contrasting soils, from which the pasture is regularly cut and removed, varied in their ability to assimilate nutrients from secondary‐treated domestic effluent under high hydraulic loadings, in comparison with unirrigated, fertilized pasture. Grassed intact soil cores (500 mm in diameter by 700 mm in depth) were irrigated (50 mm wk⁻¹) with secondary‐treated domestic effluent for two years. Soils included a well‐drained Allophanic Soil (Typic Hapludand), a poorly drained Gley Soil (Typic Endoaquept), a well‐drained Pumice Soil formed from rhyolitic tephra (Typic Udivitrand), and a well‐drained Recent Soil formed in a sand dune (Typic Udipsamment). Effluent‐irrigated soils received between 746 and 815 …