Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture Confronting the Livelihood and Environmental Realities

About this book

This volume addresses the use of urban wastewater in agriculture, a centuries old practice that is receiving renewed attention with the increasing scarcity of fresh water resources faced by many arid and semi-arid countries. Driven by rapid urbanization and growing wastewater volumes, wastewater is widely used as a low cost alternative to conventional irrigation water, and generates considerable value in urban and peri-urban agriculture despite the health and environmental risks associated with this practice. Though pervasive, this practice is largely unregulated in poor countries, and the health and environmental costs and benefits are unknown or unacknowledged. Existing options to treat wastewater for reuse are often beyond the financial means of municipalities and farmers in these countries.

Contents

1) Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Management Challenges in Developing Countries; 2) A Framework for a Global Assessment of the Extent of Wastewater Irrigation: The Need for a Common Wastewater Typology; 3) A Sustainable Livelihoods Approach for Action Research on Wastewater Use in Agriculture; 4) Health Guidelines for the Use of Wastewater in Agriculture: Developing Realistic Guidelines; 5) A Fresh Look at Microbial Guidelines for Wastewater Irrigation in Agriculture: A Risk-assessment and Cost-effectiveness Approach; 6) Wastewater Irrigation - Hazard or Lifeline? Empirical Results from Nairobi, Kenya and Kumasi, Ghana; 7) National Assessments on Wastewater Use in Agriculture and an Emerging Typology: The Vietnam Case Study; 8) Wastewater Use in Pakistan: The Cases of Haroonabad and Faisalabad; 9) Agriculture Use of Untreated Urban Wastewater in Ghana; 10) Untreated Wastewater Use in Market Gardens: A Case Study of Dakar, Senegal; 11) Wastewater Irrigation in Vadodara, Gujarat: Economic Catalyst for Marginalised Communities; 12) The Use of Wastewater in Cochabamba, Bolivia: A Degrading Environment; 13) Treatment Plant Effects on Wastewater Irrigation Benefits: Revisiting a Case Study in the Guantajuato River Basin, Mexico; 14) From Wastewater Reuse to Water Reclamation: Progression of Water Reuse Standards in Jordan; 15) Treated Wastewater Use in Tunisia: Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead; 16) Confronting the Realities of Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Lessons Learned and Recommendations.

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