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Faecal pollution on vegetables and soil drip irrigated with treated municipal wastewaters

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  • Lonigro, Antonio
  • Rubino, Pietro
  • Lacasella, Vita
  • Montemurro, Nicola

Abstract

A three-year study was carried out to evaluate the effects of three different types of municipal treated wastewater distributed by drip irrigation on the microbial quality of some vegetable crops. The three different treated wastewater were: a secondary effluent originated from the municipal treatment plant after screening and grit removal, primary clarifiers followed by activated sludge process and partial aerobic stabilization of the sludge, finally the chemical precipitation of phosphorus, denitrification and chlorination; the second source, a tertiary-treated wastewater is originated after that the secondary effluent is first treated through granular media sand filtration and then it is pumped into the second phase of treatment represented by ultra-filtration module equipped with hollow fibre membranes (nominal porosity 0.2μm). The third water source was a simplified lagooning treatment in which part of the secondary effluent is pumped outside of the municipal plant and it is collected in a big reversed pyramid-shaped land pit, in this tank the water resided for a 4–5 days before being distributed to crops. In an experimental field in southern Italy (Apulia region) the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of the irrigation waters and faecal pollution on typical vegetable crops of southern Italy environment were determined. Total and Faecal Coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella and protozoa Giardia and Cryptosporidium were monitored in the irrigation water, on plants and on soil at harvesting time. The different quality of irrigation water affected yields. For microbial results, however, in spite of the water contained high levels of microbial load (248, 1713 and 123429 E. coli cfu 100mL−1 in Tertiary filtered Wastewater, Lagoon treated Wastewater and Secondary treated Wastewater, respectively), exceeding the values of law (10 E. coli cfu 100mL−1), on crops and on soil, at harvesting time revealed no pollution. Salmonella and Cryptosporidium were never found in water, soil and crops. These data show that it is possible to irrigate with municipal treated wastewater and how despite they have higher values than those imposed by Italian law, crops quality and soil do not present any problems of faecal pollution and therefore do not cause risks for human health.

Suggested Citation

  • Lonigro, Antonio & Rubino, Pietro & Lacasella, Vita & Montemurro, Nicola, 2016. "Faecal pollution on vegetables and soil drip irrigated with treated municipal wastewaters," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 66-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:174:y:2016:i:c:p:66-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.02.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Al-Lahham, O. & El Assi, N. M. & Fayyad, M., 2003. "Impact of treated wastewater irrigation on quality attributes and contamination of tomato fruit," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 51-62, June.
    2. Al-Nakshabandi, G. A. & Saqqar, M. M. & Shatanawi, M. R. & Fayyad, M. & Al-Horani, H., 1997. "Some environmental problems associated with the use of treated wastewater for irrigation in Jordan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 81-94, July.
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    2. 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.
    3. Salar Rezapour & Amin Nouri & Hawzhin M. Jalil & Shawn A. Hawkins & Scott B. Lukas, 2021. "Influence of Treated Wastewater Irrigation on Soil Nutritional-Chemical Attributes Using Soil Quality Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Li, Jiusheng & Wen, Jie, 2016. "Effects of water managements on transport of E. coli in soil-plant system for drip irrigation applying secondary sewage effluent," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 12-20.
    5. Vanmarcke, Hanne & Tuytschaever, Tessa & Everaert, Bert & Cuypere, Tim De & Sampers, Imca, 2024. "Impact of using stored treated municipal wastewater for irrigation on the microbial quality and safety of vegetable crops," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    6. Palacios, Oskar A. & Contreras, Claudia A. & Muñoz-Castellanos, Laila N. & González-Rangel, María O. & Rubio-Arias, Hector & Palacios-Espinosa, Alejandro & Nevárez-Moorillón, Guadalupe V., 2017. "Monitoring of indicator and multidrug resistant bacteria in agricultural soils under different irrigation patterns," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 19-27.
    7. Deepak Singh & Neelam Patel & Agossou Gadedjisso-Tossou & Sridhar Patra & Nisha Singh & Pushpendra Kumar Singh, 2020. "Incidence of Escherichia coli in Vegetable Crops and Soil Profile Drip Irrigated with Primarily Treated Municipal Wastewater in a Semi-Arid Peri Urban Area," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.

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