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Areosa I, Martins TAE, Lourinho R, Batista M, Brito AG, Amaral L. Treated wastewater reuse for irrigation: A feasibility study in Portugal. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 954:176698. [PMID: 39366581 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2024] [Revised: 09/06/2024] [Accepted: 10/01/2024] [Indexed: 10/06/2024]
Abstract
In an increasing water scarcity and climate-vulnerable global context, treated wastewater represents a vital alternative water source, thereby enhancing resource sustainability. Despite its potential, only roughly 2.5 % of the treated wastewater is reused in the European Union, with Portugal's reuse rate being only 1.2 % in 2022. Considering this framework, this study evaluates the feasibility of increasing wastewater reuse in Portugal by focusing on the Tagus River and Ribeiras do Oeste Basins. The regional assessment identified eight key wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with significant potential for irrigation reuse in the agriculture and tourism sectors. Analysing costs, quality requirements, and technological options, this study considered five treatment lines, incorporating filtration and disinfection methods. The findings indicate that reclaimed water costs may range from 0.02€/m3 to 0.83€/m3, being competitive with other water sources and significantly lower than desalination processes (up to 1.66€/m3). Distribution investments and energy consumption are primary cost drivers, suggesting a relocation of WWTP closer to end-users as a cost-saving strategy. The proposed reuse projects could quadruple regional reuse rates and double the national rate, mitigating water needs for over 2000 ha of agricultural land and golf courses. This study underscores the importance of treated wastewater reuse in addressing water scarcity, advocating for WWTP decentralisation, strategic investments and policy interventions to achieve cost-effective goals. The methodologies and insights presented offer valuable guidance for other regions facing similar challenges, promoting a paradigm shift towards circular water resource management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inês Areosa
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Tiago A E Martins
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
| | - Rita Lourinho
- Department of Research, Development, and Innovation, Águas do Tejo Atlântico S.A., 1300-254 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Marcos Batista
- Department of Communication and Development, Águas do Tejo Atlântico S.A., 1300-254 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - António G Brito
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal; LEAF (Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food) & TERRA (Laboratory for Sustainable Land Use and Ecosystem Services), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Leonor Amaral
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal; CENSE (Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research) & CHANGE (Global Change and Sustainability Institute), NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
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Penserini L, Moretti A, Mainardis M, Cantoni B, Antonelli M. Tackling climate change through wastewater reuse in agriculture: A prioritization methodology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 914:169862. [PMID: 38185141 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, are posing a major global challenge, particularly impacting the agricultural sector. A growing interest is raised towards reclaimed wastewater (RWW) as an alternative irrigation source, capable of exploiting also the nutrient content through the fertigation practice. However, a prioritization methodology for selecting the most appropriate wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for implementing direct RWW reuse is currently missing. Such prioritization would benefit water utilities, often managing several WWTPs, and policymakers in optimizing economic asset allocation. In this work, a prioritization framework is proposed to evaluate WWTPs' suitability for implementing direct RWW reuse considering both WWTP and surrounding territory characteristics. This procedure consists of four key steps. Firstly, a techno-economic model was developed, in which monthly mass balances on water and nutrients are solved by matching crop requirements, rainfall conditions, and effluent characteristics. Economic suitability was quantified considering economic benefits due to savings in freshwater resource, mineral fertilizers and avoided greenhouse gases emissions, but also losses in crop yield due to RWW salinity content. Secondly, a classification procedure was coded to select representative WWTPs among a set of WWTPs, based on their size, presence of nutrient removal processes, and type of crops in their surroundings. The techno-economic model was then applied to these selected WWTPs. Thirdly, input parameters' relevance in determining WWTP suitability for RWW reuse was ranked. Finally, scenario analyses were conducted to study the influence of rainfall patterns and nutrient treatment removal on the RWW reuse feasibility. The type of crops surrounding the WWTPs and RWW salinity content resulted to be crucial elements in determining WWTPs suitability for RWW reuse implementation. The proposed methodology proved to be an effective support tool for policymakers and water utilities to assess the techno-economic feasibility of direct RWW reuse, generalizing results to several combinations of WWTPs and crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Penserini
- Politecnico Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA) - Environmental Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Alessandro Moretti
- Università degli studi di Udine, Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), Via del Cotonificio 108, 33100 Udine, Italy
| | - Matia Mainardis
- Università degli studi di Udine, Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), Via del Cotonificio 108, 33100 Udine, Italy
| | - Beatrice Cantoni
- Politecnico Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA) - Environmental Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Manuela Antonelli
- Politecnico Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA) - Environmental Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
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Yalin D, Craddock HA, Assouline S, Ben Mordechay E, Ben-Gal A, Bernstein N, Chaudhry RM, Chefetz B, Fatta-Kassinos D, Gawlik BM, Hamilton KA, Khalifa L, Kisekka I, Klapp I, Korach-Rechtman H, Kurtzman D, Levy GJ, Maffettone R, Malato S, Manaia CM, Manoli K, Moshe OF, Rimelman A, Rizzo L, Sedlak DL, Shnit-Orland M, Shtull-Trauring E, Tarchitzky J, Welch-White V, Williams C, McLain J, Cytryn E. Mitigating risks and maximizing sustainability of treated wastewater reuse for irrigation. WATER RESEARCH X 2023; 21:100203. [PMID: 38098886 PMCID: PMC10719582 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2023.100203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Scarcity of freshwater for agriculture has led to increased utilization of treated wastewater (TWW), establishing it as a significant and reliable source of irrigation water. However, years of research indicate that if not managed adequately, TWW may deleteriously affect soil functioning and plant productivity, and pose a hazard to human and environmental health. This review leverages the experience of researchers, stakeholders, and policymakers from Israel, the United-States, and Europe to present a holistic, multidisciplinary perspective on maximizing the benefits from municipal TWW use for irrigation. We specifically draw on the extensive knowledge gained in Israel, a world leader in agricultural TWW implementation. The first two sections of the work set the foundation for understanding current challenges involved with the use of TWW, detailing known and emerging agronomic and environmental issues (such as salinity and phytotoxicity) and public health risks (such as contaminants of emerging concern and pathogens). The work then presents solutions to address these challenges, including technological and agronomic management-based solutions as well as source control policies. The concluding section presents suggestions for the path forward, emphasizing the importance of improving links between research and policy, and better outreach to the public and agricultural practitioners. We use this platform as a call for action, to form a global harmonized data system that will centralize scientific findings on agronomic, environmental and public health effects of TWW irrigation. Insights from such global collaboration will help to mitigate risks, and facilitate more sustainable use of TWW for food production in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Yalin
- A Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Hillary A. Craddock
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Shmuel Assouline
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Evyatar Ben Mordechay
- The Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Alon Ben-Gal
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Gilat Reseach Center, Israel
| | - Nirit Bernstein
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | | | - Benny Chefetz
- The Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NIREAS-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Bernd M. Gawlik
- Ocean and Water Unit, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
| | - Kerry A. Hamilton
- The School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment and The Biodesign Institute Center for Environmental Health Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Leron Khalifa
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Isaya Kisekka
- Department of Land Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Iftach Klapp
- Institute of Agricultural engineering, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | | | - Daniel Kurtzman
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Guy J. Levy
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Roberta Maffettone
- Ocean and Water Unit, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
| | - Sixto Malato
- CIEMAT-Plataforma Solar de Almería, Ctra. Sen´es km 4, 04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain
| | - Célia M. Manaia
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina – Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Porto, Portugal
| | - Kyriakos Manoli
- NIREAS-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Orah F. Moshe
- Department of Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Andrew Rimelman
- PG Environmental. 1113 Washington Avenue, Suite 200. Golden, CO 80401, USA
| | - Luigi Rizzo
- Water Science and Technology (WaSTe) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
| | - David L. Sedlak
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Maya Shnit-Orland
- Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel
| | - Eliav Shtull-Trauring
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
| | - Jorge Tarchitzky
- The Robert H Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Clinton Williams
- US Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Maricopa, AZ, USA
| | - Jean McLain
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Eddie Cytryn
- Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture Research Organization (ARO) – The Volcani Institute, Rishon LeZion, Israel
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Kalboussi N, Biard Y, Pradeleix L, Rapaport A, Sinfort C, Ait-Mouheb N. Life cycle assessment as decision support tool for water reuse in agriculture irrigation. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 836:155486. [PMID: 35476952 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study presents a decision support tool that evaluates the environmental efficiency of water reclamation for agricultural irrigation, among other options. The developed tool is published as open source at https://doi.org/10.18167/DVN1/YLP1BA. The objective of this decision support tool is to facilitate the interpretation of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results. This framework was applied to a representative case of reuse of reclaimed water for vine irrigation at the Murviel-Les-Montpellier experimental site (Hérault, France). It was then generalized through modeling assumptions to consider different reuse scenarios. To highlight situations in which the supply of recycled water for irrigation may or may not provide significant environmental benefits, three main parameters were varied: (i) tertiary treatment technologies, (ii) availability of conventional water sources, (iii) energy mix composition. The results show that the environmental impact of reclaimed water depends directly on the type of tertiary treatment technology and the location of the treatment plant in relation to the field and other water sources. The decision support tool has identified where wastewater reuse is clearly an environmentally beneficial source of irrigation among surface and groundwater sources (e.g., WWTP closer to field than river, groundwater too deep, tertiary treatment environmentally beneficial). However, there are many situations where the decision support process cannot distinguish between water reuse for agricultural irrigation and conventional water sources, especially when the nutrient content of treated municipal wastewater is insufficient to offset the negative effects of high energy requirements and chemicals of tertiary treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nesrine Kalboussi
- Laboratory of Desalination and Nature Water Valorization, Centre of Water Researches and Technologies (CERTE), B.P. 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia.
| | - Yannick Biard
- CIRAD, UPR HortSys, F-34398 Montpellier, France; HortSys, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France; ELSA, Research group for environmental life cycle sustainability assessment, 2 place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier, France
| | - Ludivine Pradeleix
- G-EAU, AgroParisTech, Cirad, IRD, Irstea, Montpellier SupAgro, University of Montpellier, ELSA Research Group, Montpellier, France
| | - Alain Rapaport
- MISTEA, Univ. Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France
| | - Carole Sinfort
- ITAP, Univ. Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France
| | - Nassim Ait-Mouheb
- INRAE, UMR G-Eau, University of Montpellier, Avenue Jean-François Breton, 34000 Montpellier, France.
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