Department Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Via Del Cotonificio 108, 33100, Udine, Italy.
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Adolfo Ferrata 3, 27100, Pavia, Italy.
Environ Pollut. 2022 Mar 1;296:118755. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118755. Epub 2021 Dec 28.
Water shortages are an issue of growing worldwide concern. Irrigated agriculture accounts for about 70% of total freshwater withdrawals globally, therefore alternatives to use of conventional sources need to be investigated. This paper critically reviews the application of treated wastewater for agricultural fertigation (i.e., water and nutrient recovery) considering different perspectives: legislation, agronomic characteristics, social acceptability, sustainability of treatment technologies. Critical issues that still need further investigation for a wider application of fertigation practices include accumulation of emerging contaminants in soils, microbiological and public health implications, and stakeholders' acceptance. A techno-economic methodological approach for assessing the sustainability of treated wastewater reuse in agriculture is subsequently proposed herein, which considers different possible local conditions (cultivated crops and effluent characteristics). The results showed that tailoring effluent characteristics to the desired nutrient composition could enhance the process economic sustainability; however, water savings have a major economic impact than fertilizers' savings, partly due to limited P reuse efficiency. The developed methodology is based on a practical approach and may be generalized to most agricultural conditions, to evaluate and encourage safe and efficient agricultural wastewater reuse practices.
水资源短缺是一个日益受到全球关注的问题。全球总淡水资源取用量中，灌溉农业约占 70%，因此需要研究替代传统水源的方法。本文从立法、农艺特性、社会可接受性和处理技术可持续性等不同角度，批判性地综述了经处理的废水在农业施肥（即水和养分回收）中的应用。仍需进一步研究的关键问题包括新兴污染物在土壤中的积累、对微生物和公共卫生的影响，以及利益相关者的接受度。本文随后提出了一种用于评估农业中经处理废水再利用可持续性的技术经济方法学方法，该方法考虑了不同的当地条件（种植作物和废水特性）。结果表明，使废水特性符合所需养分组成可以提高工艺经济可持续性；然而，与肥料节约相比，节水对经济的影响更大，部分原因是磷的再利用率有限。所开发的方法基于实际方法，可以推广到大多数农业条件，以评估和鼓励安全有效的农业废水再利用实践。
