Abstract
Water recycling is becoming progressively more important as the need for Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) is increasing to ensure a transition towards a more sustainable use for water. Perceptions and public acceptance of water reuse are recognised as paramount factors for the successful introduction of wastewater reuse projects, regardless of the strength of scientific evidence in their favour. This article analyses perceptions of risks and benefits of using treated wastewater for irrigation purposes in agriculture when dealing with different crops. Data from an original farmer survey are analysed through descriptive statistics and a classification tree approach. The study reveals limited knowledge of wastewater treatment, yet a good level of openness towards the reuse of wastewater for irrigation. A lower risk perception and a higher acceptance level are mainly explained by positive expectations with regard to the environmental characteristics of effluent water, higher education, and specific cropping choices. Enhancing information availability is also found to positively affect social acceptance. The ease of converting current water-management practices to the new water source explains the perceived benefits of reusing water.
Highlights
Water scarcity, due to climate variability and increased urbanization, has emerged as one of the most pressing problems in the 21st century [1]
In the Italian province of Reggio Emilia, a wastewater treatment treatment plant (WWTP) for municipal wastewater was enhanced with the realisation of a tertiary plant (WWTP) for municipal wastewater was enhanced with the realisation of a tertiary treatment treatment section designed in 2014, to the aim of achieving wastewater characteristics suitable for section designed in 2014, to the aim of achieving wastewater characteristics suitable for water reuse in water reuse in agriculture, in line with the limiting conditions set by Italian legislation [27]
The first is a binary variable that takes a value of 1 if the farmer believes that wastewater treatment may imply risk, while the second takes a value of 1 if no risks are envisaged
Summary
Due to climate variability and increased urbanization, has emerged as one of the most pressing problems in the 21st century [1]. Agriculture is the sector which uses the largest share of water in most countries [2,3], being currently responsible for 70% of water abstraction worldwide [4], while irrigated land is expected to expand significantly during the decades [5]. The increasing gap between water needs and availability affects the ability to secure freshwater supplies and implies increasing provisioning costs for agricultural systems and actors, with potentially destabilising effects for markets. Climate change will affect water resources in many ways: through extreme events (i.e., floods and droughts), by changing patterns and amounts of precipitation, or by affecting water quality through changes in runoff, river flows, and water retention. The severity and length of droughts will progressively increase [6], especially in southern and Mediterranean Europe [7]
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