Towards sustainability in water recycling

Sala, Lluís; Serra, Maurício Aguiar

doi:10.2166/wst.2004.0074

Cited by 63 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Regardless of the motivation, large-scale reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) is now becoming increasingly common worldwide. With proper planning, implementation, and management, land application of treated wastewater can benefit agriculture, water resource management, and the environment (10)(11)(12)(13). Therefore, in 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) developed guidelines for the reuse of TWW (8) intended for the irrigation of residential landscapes, parks, school yards, highway medians, fodder, and fiber crops, as well as for environmental purposes such as creating artificial wetlands, and sustaining stream flows.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Long-Term Irrigation of Domestic Treated Wastewater on Soil Biogeochemistry and Bacterial Community Structure

Wafula

White

Canion

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Freshwater scarcity and regulations on wastewater disposal have necessitated the reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for soil irrigation, which has several environmental and economic benefits. However, TWW irrigation can cause nutrient loading to the receiving environments. We assessed bacterial community structure and associated biogeochemical changes in soil plots irrigated with nitrate-rich TWW (referred to as pivots) for periods ranging from 13 to 30 years. Soil cores (0 to 40 cm) were collected in summer and winter from five irrigated pivots and three adjacently located nonirrigated plots. Total bacterial and denitrifier gene abundances were estimated by quantitative PCR (qPCR), and community structure was assessed by 454 massively parallel tag sequencing (MPTS) of small-subunit (SSU) rRNA genes along with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of nirK, nirS, and nosZ functional genes responsible for denitrification of the TWW-associated nitrate. Soil physicochemical analyses showed that, regardless of the seasons, pH and moisture contents (MC) were higher in the irrigated (IR) pivots than in the nonirrigated (NIR) plots; organic matter (OM) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were higher as a function of season but not of irrigation treatment. MPTS analysis showed that TWW loading resulted in the following: (i) an increase in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, especially Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria; (ii) a decrease in the relative abundance of Actinobacteria; (iii) shifts in the communities of acidobacterial groups, along with a shift in the nirK and nirS denitrifier guilds as shown by T-RFLP analysis. Additionally, bacterial biomass estimated by genus/group-specific real-time qPCR analyses revealed that higher numbers of total bacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and the nirS denitrifier guilds were present in the IR pivots than in the NIR plots. Identification of the nirK-containing microbiota as a proxy for the denitrifier community indicated that bacteria belonged to alphaproteobacteria from the Rhizobiaceae family within the agroecosystem studied. Multivariate statistical analyses further confirmed some of the above soil physicochemical and bacterial community structure changes as a function of long-term TWW application within this agroecosystem. Rapid population growth across the globe, an increase in per capita water consumption, and, in part, global climate change have resulted in increased demands on available freshwater resources (1-3). Many countries are turning to wastewater recycling in order to meet these increased freshwater demands (3-5). Therefore, planned and managed reuse of wastewater is increasingly practiced not only in arid or semiarid regions but also in temperate and subtropical regions that do not routinely face water shortages (6-9). Regardless of the motivation, large-scale reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) is now becoming increasingly common worldwide. With proper planning, implementation, and management, ...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Long-Term Irrigation of Domestic Treated Wastewater on Soil Biogeochemistry and Bacterial Community Structure

Wafula

White

Canion

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…Moreover, Tianjin City faces a significant groundwater over-exploitation situation, where land subsidence problems have appeared. Using reclaimed water would save significant volumes of freshwater for Tianjin City to support its economic development (Sala & Serra, 2004). However, the amount of reclaimed water was only 1.7 Â 10 6 tons, and reclaimed water projects are just beginning to be implemented (Yi et al, 2011).…”

Section: Water Resources Utilisation and Recycling Conditions In Tianmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the potential of using water reclamation to improve the water environment and economy: scenario analysis of Tianjin, China

Xiang

Shi

et al. 2014

Water Policy

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Tianjin City in China is a typical area that suffers from a serious water resource shortage and pollution problems, and this situation has spurred the use of reclaimed water as an additional source of water and an efficient method of improving water quality. This study aims to assess the reclaimed water utilisation amount available and its potential impacts on the water environment and economy, and proposes applicable approaches to establish the optimal development for Tianjin. A water resources-environment-economic management model was constructed, which was accomplished by dynamic linear optimisation. Through scenario analysis, Tianjin's optimal reclaimed water recycle rate can reach 56%, with 475 Â 10 6 tons of reclaimed water amount available (supporting 22% of the water supply), while bringing sufficient environmental and economic benefits, such as reducing 20% of water pollutants and maintaining 6.3% annual economic growth by 2020. This research also suggests that an integrated water management approach is preferable, including a proper introduction of technologies suited to the region's needs, a support system for construction, and control of water pollutant emission sources, especially in agriculture. The originally formulated water management system can be easily applied and extended to solve water issues, especially for water recycling.

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“…Additionally, such reuse should be carried out with the minimum environmental impact and minimum utilization of energy (Sala and Serra, 2004). Treated wastewater has already undergone a substantial degree of treatment, thus a minimum additional processing is required for reuse.…”

Section: Long-term Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%