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Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture
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Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 11600

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zhongyang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Farmland Irrigation, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453002, China
Interests: reclaimed municipal wastewater use; soil remediation; heavy metals; emerging contaminates; irrigation; livestock wastewater reuse; greenhouse gas emission
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yuan Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Farmland Irrigation, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453002, China
Interests: reclaimed water irrigation; antibiotic resistance; rhizosphere electrochemistry; soil chemistry; greenhouse effect; plant nutrition; soil health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water shortage and water pollution are a double whammy facing all countries in the world. As agricultural use accounts for 69% of water consumption, improving water use efficiency and seeking alternative irrigation water resources are the ways to ameliorate these challenges.

The waters recovered annually from wastewater are estimated to increase from the current 380 billion m3 to 574 billion m3 in 2050. Reclaimed waters contain nutrients, but they also contain known and unknown organic and inorganic contaminants, not all of which can be removed in wastewater treatment plants. While these contaminants will undergo a multitude of physical and biogeochemical processes, their safety for irrigation remains obscure despite decades of practice. This Special Issue aims to report the progress we have made over the past decades in the application of reclaimed water for irrigation, including the associated environmental issues and their remediations in areas ranging from fundamental research to practical management. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Safe reuse of reclaimed water
  • Emerging contaminates in reclaimed water
  • Reclaimed water irrigation effects on soil health
  • Improvement of reclaimed water quality
  • Reclaimed water irrigation effect on greenhouse gas emissions
  • Reclaimed water irrigation effect on soil and water pollution

Prof. Dr. Zhongyang Li
Dr. Yuan Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • reclaimed water management
  • reclaimed water quality
  • emerging contaminates in reclaimed water
  • reclaimed water irrigation methods
  • reclaimed water and public health
  • reclaimed water and environmental safety
  • reclaimed water and soil quality
  • reclaimed water and climate change

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 257 KiB  
Communication
Achieving Responsible Reclaimed Water Reuse for Vineyard Irrigation: Lessons from Napa Valley, California and Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California
by Marc Beutel, Leopoldo Mendoza-Espinosa, Clara Medina, Jorge Andrés Morandé, Thomas C. Harmon and Josué Medellín-Azuara
Water 2024, 16(19), 2817; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16192817 - 4 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1491
Abstract
Here we report on preliminary efforts to assess the potential to use reclaimed water from municipal wastewater treatment plants for irrigation of vineyards in Napa Valley, California, USA and Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico. Vineyards in Napa Valley use a range of [...] Read more.
Here we report on preliminary efforts to assess the potential to use reclaimed water from municipal wastewater treatment plants for irrigation of vineyards in Napa Valley, California, USA and Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico. Vineyards in Napa Valley use a range of source waters including 70 L/s of reclaimed water during the summertime irrigation season. Reclaimed water is secondary effluent that undergoes filtration and disinfection and meets stringent total coliform (<240 MPN/100 mL) and turbidity (10 NTU) requirements. Vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe currently use regional groundwater supplies of marginal quality, and there is interest in expanding source waters to include reclaimed water from nearby Ensenada or the more remote Tijuana. Valle de Guadalupe is drier than Napa Valley and has ongoing salinity management challenges, making the region more sensitive to using reclaimed water for irrigation. Several social and economic factors facilitated the implementation of reclaimed water reuse in Napa Valley for vineyard irrigation, including (1) formation of an assessment district by interested growers to help finance pipeline construction, (2) a long-term reclaimed water vineyard irrigation study by agricultural experts that confirmed the reclaimed water was safe, and (3) a well-defined and relatively low unit cost of reclaimed water. In Valle de Guadalupe, the federal government has approved a project to transport 1000 L/s of reclaimed water over 100 km from Tijuana to Valle de Guadalupe. Questions remain including financing of the project, reclaimed water quality, grower interest in using reclaimed water, and community concerns for such a large-scale program. In considering reclaimed water reuse in vineyards, a key issue is implementation of long-term studies showing that reclaimed water is effectively treated and is safe for irrigation, especially from the standpoint of salt content. In addition, the cost of reclaimed water needs to be comparable with traditional water sources. Finally, in addition to assessing economic constraints, social constraints and water user concerns should be comprehensively addressed in the context of a regional integrated water management framework. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture)
19 pages, 7632 KiB  
Article
Enhancing the Growth and Quality of Alfalfa Fodder in Aridisols through Wise Utilization of Saline Water Irrigation, Adopting a Strategic Leaching Fraction Technique
by Ghulam Sarwar, Noor Us Sabah, Mukkram Ali Tahir, Muhammad Zeeshan Manzoor, Mahmoud F. Seleiman, Muhammad Amir Zia, Hemat Mahmood, Johar Jamil, Ismail Shah, Sumaira Salahuddin Lodhi, Gulnaz Parveen, Hamid Ali and Ikram Ullah
Water 2024, 16(19), 2738; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16192738 - 26 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1427
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to investigate the optimal use of high-salt water for alfalfa fodder growth and quality in Aridisol. The experiment included five treatments and was performed using a completely randomized design (CRD) as factorial design with three replications. We used a [...] Read more.
An experiment was conducted to investigate the optimal use of high-salt water for alfalfa fodder growth and quality in Aridisol. The experiment included five treatments and was performed using a completely randomized design (CRD) as factorial design with three replications. We used a leaching fraction technique (LF), which is a mitigating technique (MT). The five treatments were T1 = MT1 as normal irrigation (control), T2 = MT2 as a leaching fraction (LF) of 15% with the same quality of water, T3 = MT3 as a LF of 30% with the same quality of water, T4 = MT4 as a LF of 15% with good-quality water (as percentage of total water), in the form of 2–3 irrigations every 3 months, and T5 = MT5 as a LF of 30% with good-quality water (as percentage of total water), in the form of 2–3 irrigations every 3 months. The duration of the experiment was three years and normal soil (non-saline, non-sodic) was used in the current study. Results showed that saline water irrigation negatively affected the growth traits, but the application of the LF technique with same-quality or good-quality water mitigated such negative effects. The fodder quality traits such as crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF) and ashes were also affected in a negative way with the use of saline irrigation water. This negative impact was more intensified in the third year as the concentration of salts increased in saline water during the three years of the current investigation. A LF with canal water at 15 or 30% reduced the negative effects of salt stress and improved fodder biomass production and quality traits. For examples, using a LF with canal water at 30% increased the biomass production to 33.30 g and 15.87 g when plants were irrigated with W1 and W5, respectively. In addition, it improved quality traits such as crude protein content (5.54% and 3.73%) and crude fiber content (14.55% and 12.75%) when plants were irrigated with W1 and W5, respectively. It was concluded that the LF technique can be recommended for practice in the case of saline water irrigation for the optimized growth and quality of alfalfa fodder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture)
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15 pages, 2544 KiB  
Article
Biochar Weakens the Efficiency of Nitrification Inhibitors and Urease Inhibitors in Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Soil Irrigated with Alternative Water Resources
by Zhen Tao, Yuan Liu, Siyi Li, Baogui Li, Xiangyang Fan, Chuncheng Liu, Chao Hu, Shuiqing Zhang and Zhongyang Li
Water 2024, 16(18), 2671; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182671 - 19 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1320
Abstract
While previous studies have suggested that biochar, nitrification inhibitors, and urease inhibitors may reduce soil greenhouse gas emissions, their effectiveness in soils irrigated with alternative water resources remains unclear. To compensate for this, reclaimed water and livestock wastewater were utilized as alternative water [...] Read more.
While previous studies have suggested that biochar, nitrification inhibitors, and urease inhibitors may reduce soil greenhouse gas emissions, their effectiveness in soils irrigated with alternative water resources remains unclear. To compensate for this, reclaimed water and livestock wastewater were utilized as alternative water resources alongside groundwater control. Nitrapyrin and N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide and biochar were applied to the soil either individually or in combination, and a no-substance treatment (NS) was included for comparison. The results revealed that reclaimed water and livestock wastewater irrigation exacerbated the global warming potential. Compared to the NS, all exogenous substance treatments suppressed nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions while increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and affecting methane (CH4) emissions varied across treatments irrespective of the water types. Interestingly, the additional biochar reduced the inhibitory effect of the inhibitors on the greenhouse effect. Using nitrification inhibitors reduced the global warming potential by 48.3% and 50.1% under reclaimed water and livestock wastewater irrigation, respectively. However, when nitrification inhibitors were applied in combination with biochar, the global warming potential was increased by 52.1–83.4% compared to nitrification inhibitors alone, and a similar trend was also observed in the scenario of urease inhibitors, with increases ranging from 8.8 to 35.1%. Therefore, the combined application of biochar and inhibitors should be approached cautiously, considering the potential for increased greenhouse gas emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture)
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Graphical abstract

19 pages, 4320 KiB  
Article
Reclaimed Water Use Regulations in the U.S.: Evaluating Changes and Regional Patterns in Patchwork State Policies from 2004–2023
by Elizabeth Anne Thilmany, Serena Newton, Paul Goeringer and Rachel E. Rosenberg Goldstein
Water 2024, 16(2), 334; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16020334 - 19 Jan 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4242
Abstract
Water reuse, the beneficial use of highly treated municipal wastewater (reclaimed water), is expanding throughout the United States (U.S.); however, there are currently no federal reclaimed water use regulations, only guidelines. As a result, state policies on reclaimed water vary widely, emphasizing the [...] Read more.
Water reuse, the beneficial use of highly treated municipal wastewater (reclaimed water), is expanding throughout the United States (U.S.); however, there are currently no federal reclaimed water use regulations, only guidelines. As a result, state policies on reclaimed water vary widely, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding to facilitate coordinated national planning. Our systematic literature review, utilizing an online legal research database, presents an updated overview of U.S. reclaimed water policies from 2004 to 2023. A novel categorization scheme tracks policy changes, highlighting a 38% increase in states regulating reclaimed water between 2004 and 2023. We also created maps of current reclaimed water use regulations across the U.S. including: (1) a national overview of the reclaimed water policy landscape; and (2) documentation of non-food crop and food crop irrigation policies. As of November 2023, 74% of states (37/50) intentionally regulated reclaimed water use. Regions with historically low water scarcity, such as the Midwest, exhibited lower participation rates in reclaimed water regulation than water-scarce regions in the West. Of the 37 states regulating direct reclaimed water use in 2023, all allowed for at least some agricultural uses; 23 permitted non-food and food crop production use, while 14 states have statutory allowances for direct reclaimed water use on non-food crop production. As climate change stresses freshwater resources, our work provides up-to-date information for policymakers to navigate existing reclaimed water use policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture)
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14 pages, 1704 KiB  
Article
Effects of Reclaimed Water Irrigation on Grain Quality and Endogenous Estrogen Concentrations of Winter Wheat
by Yu Chen, Honglu Liu, Taotao Lu, Yan Li, Zhenhao Zheng and Yitong Wang
Water 2023, 15(20), 3671; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15203671 - 20 Oct 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1965
Abstract
Reclaimed water irrigation can effectively alleviate the shortage of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas; however, reclaimed water contains organic pollutants that may enter the agricultural production environment through irrigation, such as endogenous estrogens, so people have always paid attention to the [...] Read more.
Reclaimed water irrigation can effectively alleviate the shortage of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas; however, reclaimed water contains organic pollutants that may enter the agricultural production environment through irrigation, such as endogenous estrogens, so people have always paid attention to the safety of reclaimed water irrigation. In this paper, we studied the effects of reclaimed water irrigation, groundwater irrigation, and alternating irrigation of the two water sources on grain quality, as well as endogenous estrogen concentrations of winter wheat and topsoil in the North China Plain during 2015–2016. The results show that the concentrations of crude protein, total soluble sugar, crude ash, crude starch, and reduction-type vitamin C (reduction-type VC) in the winter wheat grains were 12.5–16.4%, 0.85–2.15%, 1.85–3.28%, 61.5–75.0%, and 4.9–16.0 mg/kg, respectively. There were no significant differences in these quality indexes among the irrigation treatments (p > 0.05). The concentrations of endogenous estrogen in the surface soil and winter wheat grain under all irrigation treatments were 0.34–4.01 μg/kg and below the limits of detection (ND)–3.71 μg/kg, respectively. There were no significant differences in the concentrations of endogenous estrogen in the soil and wheat grain among the different irrigation treatments (p > 0.05). The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of the endogenous estrogen in the soil–winter wheat system was 0.08–1.90, and there was no significant difference in the BCF among the irrigation treatments (p > 0.05). Compared with groundwater irrigation, reclaimed water irrigation did not significantly affect endogenous estrogen concentrations in the soil and winter wheat, as well as the bioconcentration factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safe Application of Reclaimed Water in Agriculture)
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