Sewage-fed aquaculture: a sustainable approach for wastewater treatment and reuse

Abstract

This study assesses the long-term sustainability for operation and maintenance (O&M) of sewage-fed aquaculture-based sewage treatment system. The study focused on the integrated assessment of an engineered pond system of 8 million liters per day capacity in the city of Karnal, the State of Haryana, northern India. Major areas during the assessment included health, environmental, societal and institutional views aspects as well as the quality of treated effluent subjected for reuse. The treatment facility met the Indian regulatory standards (downstream reuse and discharge into the legally permitted water bodies) in terms of physical-chemical parameters. The total coliform and faecal coliform removal were up to 2-3 log units; nevertheless, it was not capable to come across the bacterial count requirement (<1,000 per 100 mL to minimise human health risk in aquaculture practices). The system was able to generate sufficient net income required for routine O&M. Annual revenue collected by the Municipal Corporation from the lease of the facility as well as selling of treated wastewater was $3,077 and $16,667-$25,000, respectively. The additional benefit from the facility for the farmers included the saving of fertilizers and cheapest source of water available for irrigation. Recycling of treated sewages for irrigation is also returned nutrients to the surrounding farms in Karnal. This exercise has saved significant quantities of chemical fertilizer (26-41 Ton of nitrogen, 10-18 Ton of phosphorous and 38-58 Ton of potassium per year) and the overall benefit for farmers during cultivation of one acre of crop was calculated to be approximately $133 per year.

Reusing larval rearing water and its effect on development and quality of Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes

“…The United Nations estimates that by 2025 two-thirds of the world population will likely be under water stress [ 18 ]. For other water-intensive activities there has been increasing interest in many parts of the world in treating and recycling wastewater, including crop irrigation [ 19 ], fish culture [ 20 ] and aquatic macrophyte production [ 21 ]. The option of re-using water to rear successive generations of mosquito larvae is likewise attractive to reduce water usage and running costs, and help to make the SIT viable.…”

Safe and sustainable business models for water reuse in aquaculture in developing countries

“…The advantages for the treatment plant operator are the possibility of cost savings and recovery through leasing the ponds and/or asking the farmer to arrange for the maintenance of the pond system. From a public sector perspective, leasing ponds to farmers or sale of fish, aquatic plants and/or irrigation water 1 represent interesting opportunities to offset at least the operational costs of wastewater treatment, if not the capital costs, as shown in India and Bangladesh for example (Kumar et al 2015;.…”

Emerging investigator series: towards a framework for establishing the impacts of pharmaceuticals in wastewater irrigation systems on agro-ecosystems and human health

“…66 Heberer et al, demonstrated that whilst bank ltration can decrease the concentration of certain pharmaceuticals (dilution and/or removal) pharmaceutically active substances are still present in sampled ground waters at bank ltration sites. 67 Similarly, the use of reclaimed wastewater to support aquaculture is known to be practiced 68 although we have limited understanding of the specic locations and volumes of water used which presents a challenge with regards to quantifying the presence of pharmaceuticals in these systems (Fig. 1; pathway 7).…”