IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v167y2016icp95-109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mineral and biological contamination of soil and Capsicum annuum irrigated with recycled domestic wastewater

Author

Listed:
  • Almuktar, S.A.A.A.N.
  • Scholz, M.

Abstract

Due to water scarcity in many arid countries, there is considerable interest in recycling wastewater streams such as treated urban wastewater for irrigation in the agricultural sector. The aim of this study is to assess the contamination of soil and Capsicum annuum (grown in pots) irrigated by domestic wastewaters treated by different wetland types between September 2013 and September 2014. The objectives were to assess (a) the suitability of the irrigation water for growth when using recycled wastewater contaminated by trace minerals and pathogens, (b) the impact of differently treated wastewaters on soil and fruits as a function of the wetland type, and (c) the marketable yield of the harvest as a function of mineral and biological contamination risk. Ortho-phosphate-phosphorus, ammonia–nitrogen, potassium and manganese concentrations in the irrigation water considerably exceeded the thresholds. High contamination levels by total coliforms, Salmonella spp. and Streptococcus spp. were detected. No mineral contamination was observed in the soils due to irrigation with treated wastewater. Results showed that slight to moderate zinc contamination was detected in some vegetables. Potassium accumulation in the yield showed the highest values followed by zinc. In contrast, the lowest mineral accumulation of the yield was observed for iron. No bacterial contamination was detected for fruits harvested from plants irrigated by wetland outflow water. In contrast, fruits harvested from those plants irrigated by preliminary treated wastewater showed high contamination by total coliforms, Streptococcus spp. and Salmonella spp. especially for fruits, which were located close to the contaminated soil surface. However, findings indicate that vegetables receiving wastewater treated with wetlands can be considered as safe compared to those receiving only preliminary treated wastewater. High yields in terms of economic return were associated with tap water and an organic growth medium, and a wetland with a small aggregate size and a low contact time.

Suggested Citation

  • Almuktar, S.A.A.A.N. & Scholz, M., 2016. "Mineral and biological contamination of soil and Capsicum annuum irrigated with recycled domestic wastewater," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 95-109.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:167:y:2016:i:c:p:95-109
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.01.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377416300166
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.01.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cirelli, G.L. & Consoli, S. & Licciardello, F. & Aiello, R. & Giuffrida, F. & Leonardi, C., 2012. "Treated municipal wastewater reuse in vegetable production," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 163-170.
    2. Almuktar, S.A.A.A.N. & Scholz, M. & Al-Isawi, R.H.K. & Sani, A., 2015. "Recycling of domestic wastewater treated by vertical-flow wetlands for irrigating Chillies and Sweet Peppers," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1-22.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aslund, Anders (Ослунд, Андерс), 2014. "Why could growth rates decrease in emerging market economies? [Почему Могут Снизиться Темпы Роста В Странах С Развивающейся Рыночной Экономикой?]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 7-34.
    2. Suhad A. A. A. N. Almuktar & Suhail N. Abed & Miklas Scholz, 2018. "Contaminations of Soil and Two Capsicum annuum Generations Irrigated by Reused Urban Wastewater Treated by Different Reed Beds," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-25, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Urbano, Vanessa Ribeiro & Mendonça, Thaís Grandizoli & Bastos, Reinaldo Gaspar & Souza, Claudinei Fonseca, 2017. "Effects of treated wastewater irrigation on soil properties and lettuce yield," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 108-115.
    2. Jemal Fito & Stijn W. H. Hulle, 2021. "Wastewater reclamation and reuse potentials in agriculture: towards environmental sustainability," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 2949-2972, March.
    3. Suhad A.A.A.N. Almuktar & Miklas Scholz, 2016. "Experimental Assessment of Recycled Diesel Spill-Contaminated Domestic Wastewater Treated by Reed Beds for Irrigation of Sweet Peppers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Licciardello, F. & Milani, M. & Consoli, S. & Pappalardo, N. & Barbagallo, S. & Cirelli, G., 2018. "Wastewater tertiary treatment options to match reuse standards in agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 232-242.
    5. Ben Hassena, Ameni & Zouari, Mohamed & Trabelsi, Lina & Khabou, Wahid & Zouari, Nacim, 2018. "Physiological improvements of young olive tree (Olea europaea L. cv. Chetoui) under short term irrigation with treated wastewater," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 53-58.
    6. Jeong, Hanseok & Bhattarai, Rabin & Adamowski, Jan & Yu, David J., 2020. "Insights from socio-hydrological modeling to design sustainable wastewater reuse strategies for agriculture at the watershed scale," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    7. Guangshuai Wang & Zhenjie Du & Huifeng Ning & Hao Liu & Sunusi Amin Abubakar & Yang Gao, 2021. "Changes in GHG Emissions Based on Irrigation Water Quality in Short-Term Incubated Agricultural Soil of the North China Plain," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-12, December.
    8. El-Nashar, Yasser Ismail & Hassan, Badreya A. & Aboelsaadat, Eman M., 2021. "Response of Nemesia (Nemesia × hybridus) plants to different irrigation water sources and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    9. Nikolaos Tzortzakis & Christos Saridakis & Antonios Chrysargyris, 2020. "Treated Wastewater and Fertigation Applied for Greenhouse Tomato Cultivation Grown in Municipal Solid Waste Compost and Soil Mixtures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, May.
    10. Gatta, Giuseppe & Libutti, Angela & Gagliardi, Anna & Beneduce, Luciano & Brusetti, Lorenzo & Borruso, Luigimaria & Disciglio, Grazia & Tarantino, Emanuele, 2015. "Treated agro-industrial wastewater irrigation of tomato crop: Effects on qualitative/quantitative characteristics of production and microbiological properties of the soil," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 33-43.
    11. Ricart, Sandra & Rico, Antonio M., 2019. "Assessing technical and social driving factors of water reuse in agriculture: A review on risks, regulation and the yuck factor," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 426-439.
    12. Nicoleta Ungureanu & Valentin Vlăduț & Gheorghe Voicu, 2020. "Water Scarcity and Wastewater Reuse in Crop Irrigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Mahmoud S. Hashem & Wei Guo & Xuebin Qi & Ping Li, 2022. "Assessing the Effect of Irrigation with Reclaimed Water Using Different Irrigation Techniques on Tomatoes Quality Parameters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, March.
    14. Israel Finkelshtain & Iddo Kan & Mickey Rapaport‐Rom, 2020. "Substitutability of Freshwater and Non‐Freshwater Sources in Irrigation: an Econometric Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(4), pages 1105-1134, August.
    15. Libutti, Angela & Gatta, Giuseppe & Gagliardi, Anna & Vergine, Pompilio & Pollice, Alfieri & Beneduce, Luciano & Disciglio, Grazia & Tarantino, Emanuele, 2018. "Agro-industrial wastewater reuse for irrigation of a vegetable crop succession under Mediterranean conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1-14.
    16. Manuela Moreira da Silva & Flávia C. Resende & Bárbara Freitas & Jaime Aníbal & António Martins & Amílcar Duarte, 2022. "Urban Wastewater Reuse for Citrus Irrigation in Algarve, Portugal—Environmental Benefits and Carbon Fluxes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Carmelo Maucieri & Valeria Cavallaro & Caterina Caruso & Maurizio Borin & Mirco Milani & Antonio C. Barbera, 2016. "Sorghum Biomass Production for Energy Purpose Using Treated Urban Wastewater and Different Fertilization in a Mediterranean Environment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Suhad A. A. A. N. Almuktar & Suhail N. Abed & Miklas Scholz, 2018. "Contaminations of Soil and Two Capsicum annuum Generations Irrigated by Reused Urban Wastewater Treated by Different Reed Beds," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-25, August.
    19. Christou, Anastasis & Maratheftis, Grivas & Elia, Michael & Hapeshi, Evroula & Michael, Costas & Fatta-Kassinos, Despo, 2016. "Effects of wastewater applied with discrete irrigation techniques on strawberry plants’ productivity and the safety, quality characteristics and antioxidant capacity of fruits," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 48-54.
    20. Perulli, Giulio Demetrio & Gaggia, Francesca & Sorrenti, Giovambattista & Donati, Irene & Boini, Alexandra & Bresilla, Kushtrim & Manfrini, Luigi & Baffoni, Loredana & Di Gioia, Diana & Grappadelli, L, 2021. "Treated wastewater as irrigation source: a microbiological and chemical evaluation in apple and nectarine trees," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:167:y:2016:i:c:p:95-109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.