Wastewater use in agriculture in Sri Lanka A case study from Kurunegala Sri Lanka

Abstract

Wastewater management, including treatment, is vital to protect human health and prevent thecontamination of lakes and rivers: but for most developing countries this solution is prohibitivelyexpensive. In such cases, applying wastewater to agricultural lands is a more economical alternativeand more ecologically sound than uncontrolled dumping of municipal effluents into lakes and streams,as it offers a form ofland based treatment. In rural and peri-urban areas of many developing countries,the use of sewage and wastewater for irrigation is common practice. This is often due to waterscarcity but even in areas where other water sources exist, small farmers may choose wastewaterbecause of its high nutrient content, which reduces the need for expensive chemical fertilizers. Theuse of wastewater in agriculture is thus a form of nutrient and water recycl ing; and this often reducesdownstream environmental impacts on soil and water resources. The outcome of this is improvedlivelihoods, food security and nutrition for many urban low income households. Despite these benefitsuncontrolled use of wastewater may be associated with significant negative human health impactsdue to the pathogens contained in the wastewater. Sri Lanka is no exception to this situation and yetwastewater agriculture in Sri Lanka is much less studied than in other countries and is happeningunnoticed at present. The objective of this paper is to explore the wastewater use in agriculture in thecity of Kurunegala and to suggest the way forward to better wastewater management and reuse.