Abstract
The rapid growth of the population, the technological and industrial boom has brought enormous prob-lems and degradation of the environment. There is a gradual decline in availability of fresh water to be used for irrigation in India. As a consequence, the use of urban waste water (UWW) for irrigating agricultural lands is on the rise particularly in peri-urban areas of developing countries. Effective collection and treatment of urban wastewater is a critical problem in a developing country like India. A case study was undertaken to assess the characteristic of the urban waste water and its management in Mysore city and its long-term effect on irrigation. The untreated and treated urban waste water was collected during 2008 and analyzed in the laboratory. The suitability of the UWW for irrigation purposes is then evaluated according to the existing water quality standards and the results were compared with Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) irrigation water quality standards. It is evident from the results, that the current situation is not promising especially regarding the Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Suspended Solids and heavy metal concentrations and also pH of the treated UWW is exceeding the FAO standards. Among the heavy metals, the concentration of Iron and chromium are exceeding the FAO standards.
Highlights
Expansion of urban populations and increased coverage of domestic water supply and sewerage give rise to greater quantities of urban waste water (UWW)
The separate samples of untreated and treated UWW were collected for heavy metal analysis and preserved by adding 2 ml of concentrated nitric acid to prevent precipitation of metals and growth of algae
The parameters like Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of untreated UWW exceed the CPCB permissible limit for disposing the UWW on land for irrigation, but Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolve Solids (TDS) and Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) are within the average range of the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) irrigation water quality standards
Summary
Expansion of urban populations and increased coverage of domestic water supply and sewerage give rise to greater quantities of urban waste water (UWW). The major challenge is to optimize the benefits of wastewater as a resource of both the water and the nutrients it contains, and to minimize the negative impacts of its use on human health. UWW means domestic waste water, consisting of blackwater-excreta, urine and associated sludge and greywater-kitchen and bathroom wastewater or the mixture of domestic wastewater from commercial establishments and institutions including hospitals with industrial wastewater and run-off rain water [1] (Figure 1). Non point sources include silt from earth-moving activities; storm runoff from roads, home gardens, and industrial sites, infiltration from aquifers contaminated with domestic waste water or industrial chemicals; and automobile emissions. Domestic waste water created by residences, institutions, hospitals and commercial, industrial establishments, storm-water runoff from roads and other paved areas are frequently discharged into sewers. UWW is mainly comprised of water (99.9%) together with suspended and dissolved organic solids
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