Agricultural utilization of treated sewage effluent: Experience from Brazil
2011
Leal, Rafael Marques Pereira | da Fonseca, Adriel Ferreira | Herpin, Uwe | Melfi, Adolpho José
Prospects for wastewater irrigation in Brazil look promising, in light of the fact that agriculture plays an essential role in the country's economy and, furthermore, freshwater for irrigation is scarce in some parts of the country. However, irrigation with effluents still represents a new practice, and most available data related to the benefits and risks of effluent irrigation are based on short-term experiments. The present paper provides an overview of the potential of water reuse in Brazil; it describes the main results concerning effects of effluent irrigation on soil/plant interactions in Brazil, and discusses some important issues that require further investigation. So far, research in Brazil has been mainly focused on soil chemical changes that follow effluent application, while investigations concerning the occurrence and fate of trace contaminants, and the potential risks they present, remain to be carried out. Such contaminants include heavy metals and pharmaceutically active products. Effluent irrigation of agricultural crops intended for biofuel production represents a strategic issue, of increasing importance for the national and international market. For a consistent evaluation of long-term benefits and risks of effluent irrigation in this country, major needs are: improvement of the sewage collection and treatment infrastructure; establishment of legal regulations to control water reuse in agriculture; and permanent monitoring of areas already under wastewater irrigation.
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