The Effects of Irrigation with Treated Wastewater on Crops and Human Populations – A Review

Year 2016, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 15 - 22, 02.01.2016

Romanos – Vasileios Araviadis

Abstract

The use of treated urban wastewater as a resource for irrigation water is a practice widely employed in arid and semi-arid regions of the world but also one that is expected to become more diffuse due to the reduction of water resources and the climax in the competition for water. Researchers’ interests are, thus, focused on investigating the effects of the method under question on the crops on which it is applied. This review presents the main research findings on the topic with a specific focus on research carried out in Greece. The general conclusion of the present review is that the use of treated urban wastewater in irrigation can have beneficial effects on most crop yields, provided that quality characteristics of both treated wastewater and crops are sufficiently monitored.

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