Wastewater use in agriculture

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The use of (domestic) wastewater in agriculture, treated; partly treated or untreated, is a reality in India, as it is in many other countries. Certainly, there are associated risks, yet its production is of major importance to producers (income generation) and consumers (acces to food).

Such use covers an enourmous area in India and can not be stopped. A policy to increase wastewater treatment capacity is welcome, yet would require enourmous investments over a long period of time, prioritizing the issue over so many other urgencies. Probably not the most realistic approach.

Alternatively, policy could focus on an approach of partial treatment, linked to the requirements in agriculture, and water management approaches in irrigation, that reduce health and environmental risks while stimulating productivity.

We would like to meet participants (from a range of expertises and backgrounds) to further discuss such issues in smaller groups with the objective to create an Indian and internationalresearch network to develop projects in the years to come.

Frans Huibers and Katarzyna Kujawa

Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

In collaboration with the Directorate of Water Management, Bhubaneswar, India

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14 Answers

  1. I call some with the intelligence and human wisdom. it is dreamed of many people all over the world now more than ever. during several years I communicated on the fact that my process made it possible to treat to purify and recycle waste waters. I have undergoes many couroux. today I go further since I set up projects of Revalorization of Waste waters for a Productive Organic farming. but I call you with the reason: the waste waters it is an element of soil pollution of the hydraulic mediums and by consequence of the man. it is not as simple as that: one sprinkles with waste waters. those Ci contain micro pollutant chemical which one will find in our base laimentaire. No technical device in the world is able to eliminate these micro pollutant chemical. one from goes away in the insanity like: partial treatment. our health cannot accomonder of parteil: that must be all or nothing. the process “Pit biological " lyseconcept it is all.

  3. Hi all. The calculated treatment cost of all the wastewater in Inidia will be astronomical and is difficult to foresee affordable in coming 20 years. As we have several pressing issues. By the time, our resources needs to be protected. I see periurban agriculture as a treatment options where farmers' livelihood opportunity is a bonus. I personally, not much worried about pathogenic contamination (althogh very important, as Dr Frans mentioned) which can be controlled at post harvest handling or even at household level. But, heavy metals at higher than permisible limits in edible food bothers me more. That does not mean, urban wastewater irrigation has negative impact on soil, crop under all conditions. At least my experimental results in high rainfall area did not show. My view is, a holistic approach is needed, where wastewater (treated, untreatred)needs to be reused near the point of generation (polluters' responsibility) in suitable niches inside urban territory (roadside gardens, parks, public toilets, entertainment etc) and then for irrigation in periurban areas. At least, the volume of untreated wastewater discharge to surface waters is reduced

  5. Farmers growing their crops near some small towns using domestic waste water (untreated), but they will not consume that vegetables or cereals. It may be due to some hesitation or they may not feel comfortable. They will purchase these things from the market grown with good water. It is required to test the vegetable grown with domestic waste water, whether it has contain any harmful things on health.

  6. Use of waste water in agriculture has been practiced in our city Indore in M.P. more than 60 years back. The waste water was flowing through the River Khan the main drainage of the city of Indore and was lifted and treated up to primary level and latter was sent to the fields. This was accomplished by the Indore Municipal Corporation. This water contained industrial as well as the domestic waste. Many years latter the system gradually became useless and the farmers themselves started pumping water from the open drain and started irrigating the fields. The system is still continuing and it appears that the soil and the crops in fields are unaffected. Recently the Indore Municipal corporation has started a UASB based treatment plant but still the farmers are continuing with the pumping. Recently in various institutes viz the Indian Institute of management, Indore, The Choithram Hospital Indore and Shre G.S. Institute of technology and Science etc. bio-filter based treatment plants have been installed and the need of secondary and tertiary uses of water such as gardening, toilet flushing etc. has been initiated to be fulfilled by the recycled waste water. This is functioning very well and there is an advantage in terms of ground water enhancement.

  7. Hai scholars, Reuse of domestic waste water is practically possible. We the Tamil nadu Public Works Department of water resources department has already started to use the treated water for irrigation.Though the following technologies Aerated logoon, ASP,TF RBC, RBR, MEMBRANE, SBR and Electrodialysis technologies are available today world wide. These technology used for waste water treatment has many constraints like either need more land area or need more mechanical and electrical equipments. But what we need is the cost effective treatment system which can remove ODOUR,BOD, COD, PHOSPHORUS, NITRATES, ECOLI and BACTERIA. We have developed a 100% chemical free system to treat the above parameters with contact time of maximum 1-2 hr. We have noe in the process to treat the domestic waste water for Irrigation purpose so that fresh water shall be used for drinking water. Er. Ilangovan Rajan, Executive Engineer, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT, COIMBATORE TAMIL NADU

  9. The use of untreated domestic wastewater in agriculture may give rise to health risks, specifically to farmers and land labourers handling such water. As long as they do not swallow the water, main related risk concerns skin irritation. Health risks for consumers is of a different nature. First of all, contamination of crops is restricted to the water at the outside of the crop, and only applies to crops that are consumed raw. It is important to realise that the wetting of the crop not only takes place with irrigation in the field, but also at the market. Yet, health risks can be minimised and even stopped if the product is washed with clean water before consumption. It would be an excellent idea to provide irrigation and markets with fresh water only, to stop contamination at the outset. However, to apply full treatment to all polluted water streams in India would require enormous investments and management, an utopia for many years to come. Realising the volumes of water required for irrigation (easily 5000 m3/hectare per season) and treatment cost per m3 of water, it becomes evident that costs are a limiting factor. In this reality, it is a challenge for scientists and policy makers to improve the present situation at lower or none costs. Options to be worked out would include: - Avoid toxic elements (from industry) to mix with the domestic wastewater flows. - Before deciding on treatment, study the downstream use of the water flow. In case the effluent is used for irrigation, no nutritional elements (N, P, K) should be removed, as these are useful elements in agriculture. - If polluted water is used for irrigation, be restrictive in crop choice and use the most appropriate irrigation technique and proper irrigation water management. - Avoid (additional) contamination on the market and food chain. - Cleanse freshly eaten vegetables before consumption. Much more can be said around these subjects and increasingly more literature is available in support. Major lesson is that India should develop its own strategy and should not copy western technologies and approaches, as they have proven to be expensive. The Indian Water Week gives an excellent opportunity to further discuss such issues in interested groups.

  10. Hi Frans , i am with you thats the time now to start to use the wastewater in the agriculture . As i am from Sultanate of Oman which is one of the gulf Country at arid regions . We are facing a reduction of groundwater which is the main source of the agriculture . One of the most source for the arrigation in our country is a system which is called " Aflaj " . The Falaj System is a method of developing and supplying groundwater, it consists of a gently sloping tunnel, cut through alluvial material sometime hard rock, and which leads water by gravity flow from beneath the water table at its upper end, to a ground surface outlet and irrigation canals at its lower end. So we tried to use the wastewater at this system for different places which was dried. I will attend the India Water Week , so i hope will meet their for a deep and further discussions. Thanks for all Eng.Mahmood alazri ( Sultanate of Oman )

  11. Hello has all I think that it is not as simple as to say: let us re-use waste waters. One goes towards a medical catastrophe. it is already occurring by the rejections of the sewage treatment plants where the person does not emphasize the regulation and the health risks. However they really exist. a sewage treatment plant functions according to the principle of filtration. All the diffuse pollution diluted in the water of rejection is dispersed in the hydraulic mediums or the grounds. besides pollution there diffuses is especially micro the pollutant chemical coming from all the chemical domestic maintenance products which them pollute in a perennial way the environment. Lyseconcept develops a concept of purification treatment and recycling of waste waters for the immediate watering of the vegetable garden. By extension this concept removes touched them purification and their collecting systems to which the performance épuratoire is quasi worthless close to zero. With the CEBRE one approaches a performance épuratoire of more than 98% and without no production of mud residues. Recently lyseconcept in collaboration with Africans sets up PROJECTS of revalorization of waste waters for a productive organic farming, the CREABPA. To answer all NOT one should not about it set up the re-use of waste waters for agriculture in a so simplistic way. imperative conditions are obligatory such as for example a system of COMPLETELY BIOLOGICAL treatment of purification. what implies an information system strategic plan of cleansing contrary to what currently occurs. it is dreamed of the whole world to want to re-use the waste waters, a resource ad infinitum. To date only the company lyseconcept develops a biological process of treatment of waste waters, without mechanization, filtration, decantation and production of mud residues. the process “Pit Biological “lyseconcept activates in its centre enters 14 and 16 biological parameters of Biological breakdown. Should be known a paramount thing: no system of traitemet of purification whatever it is able to eliminate to it (them) pollution (S) diffuses (S) contained (S) in waste waters. lyseconcept found SOLUTION.http: /www.lyseconcept.fr, www.creabpa.fr,

  12. We are working now in a project called Treat&Use (www.treatanduse.eu), which I will present in the India Water Week. It is based in membrane technology to get a treated water with enough quality to be reused in different crops irrigation. It fulfills with the treated water reuse legislation (Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2007). I will also have an stand in the exhibition, so please fell free to visit us and I will explain deeply the entire project and the results which we are obtaining. Thank you Regards Alejandro Caballero BIOAZUL

  13. Hi Frans, what a co-incidence!! We have been working on this issue for the past year or so and have ended up going in circles!! Some of the issues that have however emerged are as follows: 1. Treated waste water is the ONLY way forward for irrigation - if not now then in the years to come. 2. Current situation is disastrous - about 30 different diseases are being carried by untreated waste water to the end consumers. 3. Government, the main custodian of this water is not really bothered with the quality of water being used. Instead many of them are informally 'selling' this water to the users!! 4. The best way forward is the use of 'non-conventional technologies' where this waste water can be adequately treated. We have evolved some of these technologies, but lack the funding to take it forward. 5. There cannot be different standards for different soil types etc. The main issues to be addressed would need to be COD (inorganic part of bio-solids), DO (presence of oxygen is essential for plant growth), TDS (presence of high salts can create a problem with soils) and Coliform count (presence of harmful microbes MUST be eliminated). We could communicate further on sanjay.aggarwal@cloverorganic.com or mobile +91-999-737-4447 Regards, Sanjay

  14. Use of Wastewater as such is not good as stated by Frans Huibers. But the quality recycled wastewater can be used for the agriculture, aquaculture and horticulture. The standards of the recycled water let into the agrified ( on different soils , on different crops ) is to be fixed by the experts . This is one way of solving the water stress status.