Environmental effects analysis of a wastewater reuse system for agriculture in Korea

Abstract

The long-term goal of this research is to develop the infra-technologies to reclaim effluents from wastewater treatment plants and reuse them for agricultural water demands. The objectives of this were: 1) to study the effects of various wastewater treatment levels on crop growth and yields; 2) to determine the pollution loads from wastewater applications to paddy fields, and explore potential health hazards; 3) to investigate the treatment efficiencies of three different levels of treatment systems; and 4) to assess the agro-environmental effects of reusable wastewater resources. Wastewater reuse systems can be greatly beneficial for irrigating crops and improving river water quality. Field experiments for cultivating rice with reclaimed wastewater were carried out on the test plots. The effects of various wastewater treatment levels on water quality, paddy soil, crop growth, yields, and the health hazards were investigated.