On the Treatment Trains for Municipal Wastewater Reuse for Irrigation

Abstract

Traditional urban wastewater treatment plants (UWTPs) are badly efficient in eliminating most contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), comprising antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARB & ARGs). Such pollutants induce some worry for nature and human health, especially if UWTPs effluents are reused for crop irrigation. In all probability, traditional UWTPs will need extra advanced treatment stages to satisfy water quality limits for wastewater reuse. Recently, Rizzo and his co-workers [1] published an excellent review that aims to suggest potential advanced treatment solutions, especially concerning the elimination of CECs and ARB & ARGs. They deeply assessed the performance of the best available technologies (BATs) for domestic wastewater treatment to decrease CECs and ARB & ARGs. Especially, they evaluated ozonation, activated carbon adsorption, chemical disinfection, UV radiation, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and membrane filtration focusing on their capacity to efficiently eliminate CECs and ARB & ARGs, as well as their benefits and disadvantages. This work focuses on likely treatment trains involving the aforesaid BATs. As concluded by Rizzo et al. [1] a one advanced treatment technique is not enough to reduce the liberation of chemical CECs and ARB & ARGs and make wastewater reuse for crop irrigation safer; however, an impertinent integration of them and an appropriate controlling program would be needed. There is no miraculous BAT for treating wastewater for water reuse in agriculture. An appropriate combination of many techniques would be suggested following each case.