Abstract
The impacts of climate change and human induced activities due to the development of urbanization, industries and agriculture are the biggest challenges in the field of water resource management in globally. In arid and semi-arid regions this issue of water scarcity is a great economic, environmental and social problem due to high water demand for food production. Thus, the demand of wastewater reuse has significantly increased to tackle the challenges due to water scarcity. As a result, on one hand, wastewater reuse has an enormous potential for agricultural use and economic development, on the other hand, there are significant environmental and health concerns. The objective of this chapter is therefore, to discuss the various perspectives and approaches of wastewater use in agriculture including the “fit-to-purpose” approach, which entails the production of treated wastewater that meets the needs of the intended end-users. Discussion on wastewater reuse in this chapter also focuses specially for the human safety of irrigation water containing microorganisms and microbial risks. Even after biological treatment, municipal wastewater still contains a large number of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites, worm eggs), including pathogens. Therefore, although there are plenty of opportunities for wastewater irrigation, yet a central aspect of water reuse is the possibility of transmission of infectious diseases.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agyei, P. A., & Ensink, J. (2016). Wastewater use in urban agriculture: an exposure and risk assessment in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Science and Technology (Ghana), 36, 7–14.
Dale, V. H., Kline, K. L., Buford, M. A., Volk, T. A., Smith, C. T., & Stupak, I. (2016). Incorporating bioenergy into sustainable landscape designs. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 56, 1158–1171.
de Fraiture, C., Molden, D., & Wichelns, D. (2010). Investing in water for food, ecosystems, and livelihoods: An overview of the comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture. Agricultural Water Management, 97, 495–501.
de Keuckelaere, A., Jacxsens, L., Amoah, P., Medema, G., McClure, P., Jaykus, L.-A., et al. (2015). Zero risk does not exist: Lessons learned from microbial risk assessment related to use of water and safety of fresh produce. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 14, 387–410.
Devi, M. G. (2009). A framework for determining and establishing the factors that affect wastewater treatment and recycling. Citeseer.
DIN-19650. (1999). Hygienic concerns of irrigation water “Definition of suitability classes classes”. Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V.
Du Plessis, A. (2017). Global water availability, distribution and use. In Freshwater challenges of South Africa and its Upper Vaal River. Springer.
FAO. (2017). The future of food and agriculture – Trends and challenges. Rome.
Gawith, D., Hill, D., & Kingston, D. (2017). Determinants of vulnerability to the hydrological effects of climate change in rural communities: Evidence from Nepal. Climate and Development, 9, 50–65.
Gosling, S. N., & Arnell, N. W. (2016). A global assessment of the impact of climate change on water scarcity. Climatic Change, 134, 371–385.
Gray, J., Holley, C., & Rayfuse, R. (2016). Trans-jurisdictional water law and governance. Routledge.
Hagihara, Y., & Hagihara, K. (2016). Water resources conflict management: Social risk management. In Coping with regional vulnerability. Springer.
Hamilton, A. J., Versace, V. L., Stagnitti, F., Li, P., Yin, W., Maher, P., et al. (2006). Balancing environmental impacts and benefits of wastewater reuse. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, 2, 117–129.
Harder, R., Heimersson, S., Svanström, M., & Peters, G. M. (2014). Including pathogen risk in life cycle assessment of wastewater management. 1. Estimating the burden of disease associated with pathogens. Environmental Science and Technology, 48, 9438–9445.
Harper, C., & Snowden, M. (2017). Environment and society: Human perspectives on environmental issues. Taylor & Francis.
Helander, H. (2017). Geographic disparities in future global food security: Exploring the impacts of population development and climate change.
Holvoet, K., de Keuckelaere, A., Sampers, I., van Haute, S., Stals, A., & Uyttendaele, M. (2014). Quantitative study of cross-contamination with Escherichia coli, E. coli O157, MS2 phage and murine norovirus in a simulated fresh-cut lettuce wash process. Food Control, 37, 218–227.
ISO-16075-1. (2015). International Standard (ISO 16075-1): Guidelines for treated wastewater use for irrigation projects—Part 1: The basis of a reuse project for irrigation (1st ed.).
ISO-16075-2. (2015). International Standard (ISO 16075-2), 2015-part 2: Guidelines for treated wastewater use for irrigation projects—Part 2: Development of the project (1st ed.).
Kistemann, T., Schmidt, A., & Flemming, H.-C. (2016). Post-industrial river water quality—Fit for bathing again? International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 219, 629–642.
Liu, J., Dorjderem, A., Fu, J., Lei, X., & Macer, D. (2011). Water ethics and water resource management (Ethics and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (ECCAP) Project, Working Group 14 Report). UNESCO Bangkok.
MacDonald, E., Heier, B., Stalheim, T., Cudjoe, K., Skjerdal, T., Wester, A., Lindstedt, B., & Vold, L. (2011). Yersinia enterocolitica O: 9 infections associated with bagged salad mix in Norway, February to April 2011. Euro Surveill, 16.
Mayer, R., Bofill-Mas, S., Egle, L., Reischer, G., Schade, M., Fernandez-Cassi, X., et al. (2016). Occurrence of human-associated Bacteroidetes genetic source tracking markers in raw and treated wastewater of municipal and domestic origin and comparison to standard and alternative indicators of faecal pollution. Water Research, 90, 265–276.
Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2016). Four billion people facing severe water scarcity. Science advances, 2, e1500323.
Mikola, A., & Egli, J. (2016). Keeping receiving waters safe: The removal of PFOS and other micro pollutants from wastewater. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, 2016, 3602–3612.
Parekh, A. (2016). Journey of sustainable development by private sector actors. In Water security, climate change and sustainable development. Springer.
Pfister, S., Boulay, A.-M., Berger, M., Hadjikakou, M., Motoshita, M., Hess, T., et al. (2017). Understanding the LCA and ISO water footprint: A response to Hoekstra (2016) “A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA”. Ecological Indicators, 72, 352–359.
Postel, S. (1999). Pillar of sand: Can the irrigation miracle last? WW Norton & Company.
Qadir, M., Drechsel, P., & Raschid-Sally, L. (2013). Wastewater use in agriculture.
Riesbeck, F. (2015). Irrigation and drainage—Worldwide techniques, technologies and management (First draft). Study Report. Part II. “Drainage”. Berlin, Germany: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2016a). Guideline for the management and evaluation of application of irrigation for Khuzestan province according to the recommendation of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) (Study Report). Berlin, Germany: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2016b). IRRIGAMA—The web-based Information and Advisory system for environmentally friendly and economically efficient Control of irrigation use in Agriculture and Horticulture in Germany. Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2016c). River management with the emphasis on water quality, qualified summary of the study “Impacts of pollutants on water quality”; “Source of pollutants, toxicology, risk factor identification and assessment—Total maximum daily load (TMDL)” (Second draft). Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2016d). Water reuse assessment and technical review on the effects of disposing drainage water into the environment. Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2017a). Irrigation and drainage management in Khuzestan with emphasis on water use efficiency—Decision support system (DSS) for irrigation and drainage management. Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2017b). Overview of technique & technologies of wastewater treatments (Final draft). Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F. (2017c). River management with the emphasis on water quality, qualified summary of the study “Impacts of pollutants on water quality”; “Source of pollutants, toxicology, risk factor identification and assessment—Total maximum daily load (TMDL)” (Final draft). Berlin: Humboldt Universität Berlin.
Riesbeck, F., & Rahman, Z. (2015). Water reuse - ein Risiko für den Verbraucher? Korrespondenz Wasserwirtschaft. DWA.
Schuster-Wallace, C. J., & Dickson, S. E. (2017). Pathways to a water secure community. In The human face of water security. Springer.
Smedema, L., Vlotman, W., & Rycroft, D. (2004). Modern land drainage: Planning, design and management of agricultural drainage systems. London: Taylor and Francis Group.
Tessaro, D., Sampaio, S. C., & Castaldelli, A. P. A. (2016). Wastewater use in agriculture and potential effects on meso and macrofauna soil. Ciência Rural, 46, 976–983.
UNESCO. (2009). Water in a changing world (The United Nations Development Report 3). Paris: UNESCO Publishing, und London: Earthscan: UNESCO.
UNW-DPC. (2012). Mid-term-proceedings on- capacity development for the safe use of wastewater in agriculture. In Ardakanian, R., Sewilam, H., & Liebe, J. (Eds.), UN-Water decade programme on capacity development (UNW-DPC).
Vergine, P., Saliba, R., Salerno, C., Laera, G., Berardi, G., & Pollice, A. (2015). Fate of the fecal indicator Escherichia coli in irrigation with partially treated wastewater. Water Research, 85, 66–73.
Zhou, Y., Ma, J., Zhang, Y., Qin, B., Jeppesen, E., Shi, K., et al. (2017). Improving water quality in China: Environmental investment pays dividends. Water Research, 118, 152–159.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 UNU-FLORES
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rahman, M.Z., Riesbeck, F., Dupree, S. (2018). The Opportunity Versus Risks in Wastewater Irrigation. In: Hettiarachchi, H., Ardakanian, R. (eds) Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74268-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74268-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74267-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74268-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)