The safe use of wastewater in agriculture – Reduced costs for farmers and cities and improved water quality

The Wealth of Waste – The economics of wastewater use in agriculture

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, 2010

Excerpt:

6 September 2010, Stockholm/Rome – Recycling urban wastewater and using it to grow food crops can help mitigate water scarcity problems and reduce water pollution, but the practice is not being as widely implemented as it should, according to a new FAO report.

Use of reclaimed wastewater in agriculture has been reported in around 50 countries on what amounts to 10 percent of the world’s irrigated land, according to “The Wealth of Waste: The Economics of Wastewater Use in Agriculture,” published today at the start of World Water Week (Stockholm, 5-11 September).

While on a global scale only a small proportion of treated wastewater is used for agriculture, the practice is winning increased attention worldwide and in a few countries — Spain and Mexico, for example — a high proportion of reclaimed water is used in irrigation.

“The case studies in this report show that safely harnessing wastewater for food production can offer a way to mitigate competition between cities and agriculture for water in regions of growing water scarcity,” said Pasquale Steduto, Deputy Director of FAO’s Land and Water Division. “In the right settings, it can also help to deal with urban wastewater effluent and downstream pollution.”

Farmers would also be able to avoid some of the costs of pumping groundwater, while the presence of nutrients in the wastewater would reduce their fertilizer expenses.

“Properly treated and safely recycled water can potentially offer a ‘triple dividend’ to urban users, farmers and the environment,” said Steduto.

Read the complete article here.

See the FAO report:

Contents

Part I [827kb]

Acknowledgments
Summary
List of Acronyms

1. Introduction to wastewater reuse

Part II [525kb]

2. A regional perspective: introduction to the case studies from Spain & Mexico
3. An economic methodology for assessing the feasibility of using recycled water in agriculture

Appendix to Chapter 3: Further guidance on the methodology of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis relevant to the economic appraisal of wastewater reuse projects.

Part III [612kb]

4. Results and conclusions from case study analyses
5. A planning framework for wastewater reuse
6. Conclusions

References
ANNEX
OFFICIAL DOUCMENTS RELEVANT TO MEXICO CASE STUDIES