Wastewater reuse in agriculture: Prospects and challenges.

Hussein E Al-Hazmi, Ali Mohammadi, Aleksander Hejna, Joanna Majtacz, Amin Esmaeili, Sajjad Habibzadeh, Mohammad Reza Saeb, Michael Badawi, Eder C Lima, Jacek Mąkinia

Journal: Environmental research 2023;236(Pt 1):116711

PMID: 37487927

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Sustainable water recycling and wastewater reuse are urgent nowadays considering water scarcity and increased water consumption through human activities. In 2015, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (UN SDG6) highlighted the necessity of recycling wastewater to guarantee water availability for individuals. Currently, wastewater irrigation (WWI) of crops and agricultural land appears essential. The present work overviews the quality of treated wastewater in terms of soil microbial activities, and discusses challenges and benefits of WWI in line with wastewater reuse in agriculture and aquaculture irrigation. Combined conventional-advanced wastewater treatment processes are specifically deliberated, considering the harmful impacts on human health arising from WWI originating from reuse of contaminated water (salts, organic pollutants, toxic metals, and microbial pathogens i.e., viruses and bacteria). The comprehensive literature survey revealed that, in addition to the increased levels of pathogen and microbial threats to human wellbeing, poorly-treated wastewater results in plant and soil contamination with toxic organic/inorganic chemicals, and microbial pathogens. The impact of long-term emerging pollutants like plastic nanoparticles should also be established in further studies, with the development of standardized analytical techniques for such hazardous chemicals. Likewise, the reliable, long-term and extensive judgment on heavy metals threat to human beings's health should be explored in future investigations.

Address: Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland.; Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences, Karlstad University, 65188, Karlstad, Sweden. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Materials Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Poznań, Poland.; Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering Technology and Industrial Trades, University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST), 24449, Arab League St, Doha, Qatar.; Surface Reaction and Advanced Energy Materials Laboratory, Chemical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.; Department of Polymer Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233, Gdańsk, Poland. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie Théoriques UMR CNRS 7019, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.; Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116711

Link outs

Subscription / membership required

Full Text Sources:

MeSH Terms: Humans, Wastewater, Agricultural Irrigation, Agriculture, Soil, Water, Environmental Pollutants