Sustainability of Effluent Irrigation Schemes: Measurable Definition

Abstract

Traditionally water requirements and nutrient removal capacity by plants are considered as the main design criteria of effluent irrigation schemes. Environmental impacts of schemes on surface and ground-water pollution, which may be controlling factors in some circumstances, have not been considered in the design process. In this paper the implication of the sustainability for effluent irrigation schemes has been identified through investigating the pollutant fate. An index has been developed to measure the sustainability status. A dynamic simulation model of the soil-plant system was used to predict the pollutant export to surface runoff and ground water. Pollutant accumulation in the soil profile was also predicted by the model. The traditional design procedure has been extended using the sustainable index as a design criterion and the simulation model for data generation. The application of sustainable concept and index was demonstrated through a test case. Ground-water pollution was found to be the controlling factor instead of water requirement and nutrient removal capacity in this case.