Authors:
Dr. Ester Coppini | GIDA SpA | Italy
Donatella Fibbi | GIDA SpA | Italy
Roberto Camisa | GIDA SpA | Italy
Maria Concetta Bruzzoniti | Department of Chemistry, University of Turin | Italy
Edgardo Giordani | Department of Agri-Food and Environmental Science, University of Florence | Italy
Luca Rivoira | Department of Chemistry, University of Turin | Italy
Michele Castiglioni | Department of Chemistry, University of Turin | Italy
Massimo Del Bubba | Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence | Italy
Agriculture is characterized by a high-water demand. Indeed, about 70% of worldwide freshwater (FW) withdrawals is used for agricultural irrigation. Limited FW availability is a problem of increasing concern also exacerbated by climate-related impacts. In this regard, it should be also remarked that a strong inverse correlation between the volume of FW available in a certain country and the quantity of food imported by that country has been highlighted. In the last decades, a growing attention has been devoted to search alternative sources of water for agriculture, also in view of saving high-quality waters for human consumption.
The reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation could be an efficient tool for reducing water shortage. However, the TWW reuse is currently far to be fully realized, due to several barriers, such as potential risks for the environment and the human health and social acceptability.
The research herein presented reports the main results obtained within the “IRRIGATIO” Project (grant 13-069 under the ERANET MED 2014 call), dealing with the evaluation of the possible transfer of the residual chemical contamination from TWWs reused for irrigation purposes for Fragaria x ananassa strawberry (cv. Camarosa).
Four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) managed by the company GIDA (Prato, Italy) were chosen to provide the treated wastewaters for crop irrigation. In detail, TWWs from the following facilities were analyzed to evaluate the presence of residual PAHs and PCBs: Baciacavallo plant (TWW1) and its polishing systems which refine Baciacavallo effluent wastewater before entering in the industrial aqueducts of textile districts “Macrolotto 1” (TWW2) and “Macrolotto 2” (TWW3); Calice WWTP (TWW4). Fresh water, coming from drinking water, was also tested as the control.
Chemical contamination indicators (PCBs, including dioxin-like congeners and PAHs, perfluoroalkyl acids, ethoxylated alkylphenols and alkylphenols) were monitored along the whole agricultural production chain (TWW, soil and food) in order to unequivocally assess the impact of the wastewater reuse practice under a wide spectrum of experimental conditions.
Results clearly show the absence of propagation of residual contamination still present in treated waters.
References
[1] WWAP (United Nations World Water Assessment Programme) 2014. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2014: Water and Energy. Paris, UNESCO.
[2] Yang H. et al. Environmental Science & Technology 37 (2003) 3048‐3054.
[3] Toze S. Agric. Water Management 80 (2006) 147–159.