Wastewater Irrigation Research Articles

Impact assessment of heavy metals spiked wastewater irrigation on soil health in marigold (Tagetes patula L.)

A pot experiment was conducted to find out the impact assessment of heavymetals spiked wastewater irrigation on soil healthin marigold (Tagetes patula L., cv. Pusa Arpita) under irrigation with metals spiked wastewater at Water Technology Centre of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during Rabi season of 2020-21. Sevan treatments were takenas T-1: Sole Groundwater Irrigation without spiking of heavy metal, T-2: Sole Wastewater Irrigation without spiking of heavy metal, T-3: Wastewater Irrigation spiked with Cd (0.005ppm), Cr (0.05ppm), Ni (0.1ppm) and Pb (2.5ppm), T-4:Wastewater Irrigation spiked with Cd (0.01ppm), Cr (0.1ppm), Ni (0.2ppm) and Pb (5.0ppm), T-5: Wastewater Irrigation spiked with Cd (0.1ppm), Cr (0.1ppm), Ni (2ppm) and Pb (10ppm) , T-6: Wastewater Irrigation spiked with Cd (0.25ppm), Cr (2.5ppm),Ni (5ppm) and Pb (30ppm), T-7: Wastewater Irrigation spiked with Cd (0.5ppm), Cr (5.0ppm), Ni (10ppm) and Pb (50ppm). Results indicated that soil health in-terms of pH, organic carbon, phosphorous, potassium and micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) was significantly not changed where as significantly higher salinity (EC: 0.45 dS/m), nitrogen content (164.17 kg/ha) aswell as significantly higher concentration of Ni (0.76 mg/kg), Cr (1.66 mg/kg), Cd (0.18 mg/kg) and Pb (2.78 mg/kg) in irrigated soils were observed in the treatment T-7 where higher concentration of metals were spiked in wastewater. The present study may be concluded as the application of metals spiked wastewater irrigation may deteoriate the soil health by build-up of heavy metals under cultivation of marigold.

Impact of wastewater irrigation on physical health of soil and yield of marigold (Tagetes patula L. cv. Pusa deep)

A field experiment was conducted to find out the impact of wastewater irrigation on physical and microbiological soil health in marigold (Tagetes patula L. cv. Pusa deep) based on FDR sensor at Water Technology Centre farm of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during period of 2020-2021. Eight treatments T-1: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 25% MAD (v =27%); T-2: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v =22.5%) T-3: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 75% MAD (v= 18%); T4: Groundwater irrigation scheduled as per farmers practice/recommended POP; T-5: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 25% MAD (v= 27%); T-6: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v= 22.5%); T-7: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v= 18%); T-8: Wastewater irrigation scheduled as per farmers practice/recommended POP were laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Results indicated that soil physical properties such as bulk density, saturated hydraulic conductivity and porosity at both the sol depths of 0-15 and 15-30 cm in marigold were significantly not changed due to application of wastewater irrigations scheduled at various range of MAD and with the use of FDR sensor. Significantly higher population density of faecal coliform bacteria was observed in treatment plot T-7 where wastewater irrigations were applied at MAD 50% as compared to groundwater irrigations. Moreover, the yield of marigold came to be high in wastewater irrigated plots compared to groundwater. Thus, short-term application of wastewater has less impact and the different ranges of MAD can be used for further studies.

Impact of wastewater irrigation on chemical properties of soil and flower quality of marigold (Tagetes patula L. cv. Pusa deep)

A field experiment was conducted to find out the impact of wastewater irrigation on physical and microbiological soil health in marigold (Tagetes patula L. cv.Pusa deep) based on FDR sensor at Water Technology Centre farm of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during period of 2020-2021. Eight treatments T-1: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 25% MAD (v=27%); T-2: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v =22.5%) T-3: Groundwater irrigation scheduled at 75% MAD (v= 18%);T4: Groundwater irrigation scheduled as per farmers practice/recommended POP; T-5: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 25% MAD (v= 27%); T-6: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v= 22.5%); T-7: Wastewater irrigation scheduled at 50% MAD (v= 18%); T-8: Wastewater irrigation scheduled as per farmers practice/recommended POP were laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Results indicated that soil chemical properties such as pH, organic carbon, EC, NPK and heavy metalat depth of 0-15 cm in marigold. As soil pH (7.80), EC (0.24 to 0.31 dS/m), OC (0.38), NPK and the concentration of heavy metals (Ni, Cd, Cr, Pb) were significantly higher in the treatment T6 where wastewater irrigations were scheduled at 50% MADas compared to groundwater irrigations. Moreover, the quality and grade of marigold came to be high in wastewater irrigated plots compared to groundwater. Thus, short-term application of wastewater has less impact over soil and gives better results in crop growth and quality but, the long-term application of wastewater may affect the chemical properties of the soil which can be analysed with different ranges of MAD (maximum allowable deficit) need to be studied.

Consumers Willing to Pay for Freshwater-Grown Vegetables in District Faisalabad, Pakistan

Due to the scarcity of freshwater supplies, farmers have increasingly turned to wastewater for irrigation to grow crops. However, this practice poses risks as vegetables grown with wastewater may contain toxins and heavy metals that are harmful to human health, soil quality, and groundwater resources. Consequently, these vegetables can cause diseases, while freshwater-grown vegetables are more expensive due to the scarcity of water. This paper focuses on exploring consumers' willingness to pay for vegetables grown in freshwater and investigates factors such as age, income, education, bid price, risk perception, and health risk perception that influence their willingness to pay a premium price for these vegetables. The study was conducted in Faisalabad city, where 130 vegetable consumers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings indicate that consumers highly value their health and are willing to pay a premium price for safe and healthy vegetables. This highlights the need for businesses and policymakers to meet the demand for safe vegetables by providing a consistent and reliable supply of treated water to farmers and educating them on the proper use of agrochemicals to mitigate health risks. Policymakers and other stakeholders can play a role in supporting vegetable farmers with these resources. This creates an opportunity for investors to establish businesses that meet the demand for safe and healthy vegetables in Faisalabad.

Retraction: Health risk assessment of heavy metals via consumption of dietary vegetables using wastewater for irrigation in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Retraction: Health risk assessment of heavy metals via consumption of dietary vegetables using wastewater for irrigation in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Experimental and numerical study on Zn and Pb migration in the farmland soil under wastewater irrigation conditions.

Long-term wastewater irrigation may lead to the accumulation, transformation, and migration of heavy metals in the farmland soil, increasing the risk of groundwater pollution. However, it is currently uncertain whether using wastewater for irrigation would lead to the migration of heavy metals zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) into deeper layers of soil, in the local undeveloped wastewater irrigation farmland. In this study, the migration characteristics of Zn and Pb from irrigation wastewater in local farmland soil were investigated through a series of experiments including adsorption experiments, tracer, and heavy metals breakthrough experiments, as well as numerical simulations using HYDRUS-2D software. The results revealed that the Langmuir adsorption model, CDE model, and TSM model were effective in fitting the required adsorption and solute transport parameters for the simulations. Furthermore, both the soil experiments and simulation results showed that in the test soil, Pb had a stronger affinity for adsorption sites than Zn, while Zn exhibited greater mobility than Pb. After 10years of wastewater irrigation, it was found that Zn had migrated to a maximum depth of 32.69cm underground and Pb had only migrated to 19.59cm. Despite their migration, the two heavy metals have not yet reached the groundwater zone. Instead, they had accumulated to higher concentrations in the local farmland soil. Moreover, the proportion of active forms of Zn and Pb decreased after flooded incubation. The present results can improve understanding of the environmental behavior of Zn and Pb in the farmland soil and can be used as a basis for risk assessment of Zn and Pb polluting groundwater.

Occupational Health Risk Assessment for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in Kanpur, India.

The treatment and reuse of wastewater for irrigation can lead to occupational health risks for sewage treatment plant (STP) workers and farmers. Sanitation Safety Planning (SSP) is an approach which can be used to measure and mitigate these risks. This paper explores what impact a novel secondary treatment process, consisting of an integrated permeate channel (IPC) membrane combined with a constructed wetland plus, has on the occupational health risks compared with the existing activated sludge wastewater treatment process and reuse system in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A mixed methodology was used, which included key informant interviews, structured observations, and E. coli analysis. This data was used to undertake semi-quantitative risk assessments following the SSP approach. The novel secondary treatment increased the number of health risks which the STP workers were exposed to, but the severity of the risks was lower. This was due to the differences in treatment processes and infrastructures. The number of health risks for the farmers decreased both in number and severity. For their children, the severity of the health impacts decreased. These changes were due to the increase in the microbiological quality of the irrigation water. This study highlights the potential of using a semi-quantitative risk assessment to assess the occupational health impacts of using novel treatment technologies.

Valorisation of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater in agriculture: effects on tobacco plants and rhizosphere microbiota.

Industrial wastewater obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL-WW) of food wastes for biofuels production could represent a source of crop nutrients since it is characterized by a high amount of organic and inorganic compounds. In the present work, the potential use of HTL-WW as irrigation water for industrial crops was investigated. The composition of the HTL-WW was rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium with high level of organic carbon. A pot experiment with Nicotiana tabacum L. plants was conducted using diluted wastewater to reduce the concentration of some chemical elements below the official accepted threshold values. Plants were grown in the greenhouse under controlled conditions for 21 days and irrigated with diluted HTL-WW every 24 hours. Soils and plants were sampled every seven days to evaluate, over time, the effect of wastewater irrigation both on soil microbial populations, through high-throughput sequencing, and plant growth parameters, through the measurement of different biometric indices. Metagenomic results highlighted that, in the HTL-WW treated rhizosphere, the microbial populations shifted via their mechanisms of adaptation to the new environmental conditions, establishing a new balance among bacterial and fungal communities. Identification of microbial taxa occurring in the rhizosphere of tobacco plants during the experiment highlighted that the HTL-WW application improved the growth of Micrococcaceae, Nocardiaceae and Nectriaceae, which included key species for denitrification, organic compounds degradation and plant growth promotion. As a result, irrigation with HTL-WW improved the overall performance of tobacco plants which showed higher leaf greenness and increased number of flowers compared to irrigated control plants. Overall, these results demonstrate the potential feasibility of using of HTL-WW in irrigated agriculture.

The use of wastewater for irrigation: Pros and cons for human health in developing countries

Intensive cultivation of vegetables and scarcity of clean irrigation water has resulted in the increased use of wastewater for irrigation worldwide, especially in developing countries. In this review, we analyze and outline the drawbacks of such practice to provide information on ecological and human health risk associated with the practice and suggested a way forward. For our review to reflect the best practice and technological advances in state-of-the-art terms, articles published in the last decade were considered. The review started by highlighting the growing concern of water scarcity in developing countries, the sources of wastewater, how farmers utilize the wastewater for irrigation, and limitations of existing studies. It then proceeds with in-depth look at the benefits of using wastewater for irrigation, recent diseases discovered due to wastewater irrigation, existing knowledge on the alteration of soil physical and chemical properties resulting from wastewater irrigation, heavy metals contamination of soil and food crops due to wastewater irrigation, risk assessment associated to wastewater irrigation, and then finally we proposed a novel approach of using wastewater for irrigation. In terms of benefits, more emphasis was focused on economic and environmental benefits, while also highlighting benefits to human health. We have also highlighted wastewater-borne diseases, paying more attention to recent ones that are of acute and chronic risks. In terms of the alteration of soil’s physical and chemical properties, more emphasis was put on its effects on soil fertility and productivity. The review critically revealed the heavy metals contaminating soil and food crops because of wastewater irrigation, and risk assessment also discoursed in detail. In the end, special consideration was given to the formulation of a novel approach to using wastewater for irrigation in a sustainable way, while avoiding or at least minimizing associated human health risk that are becoming rampant, especially in developing countries.

Does Industrial Wastewater Irrigation Cause Potentially Toxic Metal Contamination and Risk to Human Health? Sugar Industry Wastewater and Radish Examples.

The goal of this study was to appraise potentially toxic metal contents in the soil-radish system in industrial wastewater irrigated areas. The analysis of metals in water, soil and radish samples were performed with spectrophotometric method. The potentially toxic metal values in the wastewater irrigated radish samples were ranged from 1.25 to 1.41, 0.02 to 0.10, 0.77 to 0.81, 0.72 to 0.80, 0.92 to 1.19, 0.69 to 0.78, 0.08 to 0.11, 1.64 to 1.67 and 0.49 to 0.63mg/kg for Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn, respectively. The potentially toxic metal values in the soil and radish samples irrigated with wastewater were lower than the maximum allowable limits, except for Cd. The results of the Health Risk Index evaluation conducted in this study also showed that the accumulations of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Cr, and Zn, especially Cd, pose a health risk in terms of consumption.

The Prevalence of Aeromonas Species in Salad Vegetables Sourced from Four Local Government Areas of Plateau State

The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Aeromonas species in five salad vegetables, namely lettuce, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, and green pepper, in four local government areas of Plateau state. Aeromonas species have been linked to a number of gastroenteritis outbreaks connected to the consumption of contaminated fresh vegetables and fruits. In Nigeria, the use of untreated wastewater in irrigation is often regarded as an unavoidable alternative for compensating for water scarcity. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Aeromonas species in salad vegetables from four local government areas of Plateau State. 800 lettuce samples, including 160 lettuces, 160 cabbages, 160 carrots, 160 cucumbers and 160 green peppers, were analyzed for the presence of Aeromonas species using standard isolation, identification and characterization methods. Of the 800 samples, 202 samples were positive. Aeromonas spp. was isolated from 60(7.50%) lettuce samples, 52(6.50%) cabbage samples, 35(4.38%) carrot samples, 30(3.77%) cucumber samples and 25(3.12%) green pepper samples making lettuce the vegetable with the highest prevalence of the organism. According to the findings, samples of salad vegetables from Lamingo had the highest percentage prevalence of Aeromonas species, at 45 (6.25%), followed by samples from Miango, at 42 (5.25%), and samples from Vom, at 37 (4.64%) had the lowest percentage prevalence of the organism. According to the statistical analysis's findings, the prevalence of the organism in various vegetable types with relation to the study locations did not differ significantly (p>0.05) at the 95% confidence level. The incidence of Aeromonas species isolated from the various study regions varied significantly depending on the season, with the organism being more prevalent during the wet season (3.7%) than during the dry season (1.35%).

Dry-to-wet fluctuation of moisture contents enhanced the mineralization of chloramphenicol antibiotic

Due to livestock wastewater irrigation, soil is becoming one of the major sinks of antibiotics in the environment. Recently, it is getting recognized that a variety of minerals under low moisture conditions can induce strong catalytic hydrolysis to antibiotics. However, the relative importance and implication of soil water content (WC) for natural attenuation of soil residual antibiotics has not been well recognized. In order to explore the optimal moisture levels and the key soil properties dominating for the high catalytic hydrolysis activities of soils, this study collected 16 representative soil samples across China, and assessed their performances to degrade chloramphenicol (CAP) under different moisture levels. The results showed that the soils with low organic matter contents (< 20 g/kg) and high amounts of crystalline Fe/Al were particularly effective in catalyzing CAP hydrolysis when exposed to low WC (< 6%, wt/wt), leading to CAP hydrolysis half-lives of <40 d Higher WC greatly suppressed the catalytic activity of the soil. By utilizing this process, it is possible to integrate abiotic and biotic degradation to enhance the mineralization of CAP, attributing to that the hydrolytic products are more available for soil microorganisms. As expected, the soils experienced periodic dry-to-wet moisture conditions (i.e., the WC shifting from 1 to 5% to 20–35%, wt/wt) exhibited higher degradation and mineralization of 14C-CAP, in comparison with the constant wet treatment. Meanwhile, the bacterial community composition and the specific genera showed that the dry-to-wet fluctuation of soil WC relieved the antimicrobial stress to bacterial community. Our study verifies the critical role of soil WC in mediating the natural attenuation of antibiotics, and guides to remove antibiotics from both wastewater and soil.

Heavy Metals in Vegetables: Screening Health Risks of Irrigation with Wastewater in Peri-Urban Areas of Bhakkar, Pakistan.

One of the key concerns in public health is food security in the food sector. Due to the large amounts of potentially hazardous metals in wastewater, this practice may pose serious environmental and health risks to neighboring residents. In this study, the health effects of heavy metals in vegetables irrigated with wastewater were studied. The findings indicated a massive accumulation of heavy metals in wastewater-irrigated soil and vegetables collected from Bhakkar, Pakistan. The current study looked at the effects of wastewater irrigation on metal buildup in the soil-plant continuum and the health hazards that come with it (Cd, Co, Ni, Mn, Pb, and Fe). Heavy metal concentrations in vegetables cultivated on soil irrigated with untreated wastewater were not significantly lower (p ≥ 0.05) than in vegetables grown on wastewater-irrigated soil and were below the World Health Organization's recommended limits. A considerable amount of the selected hazardous metals was also swallowed by adults and children who consumed these vegetables, according to the research. On soil that had received wastewater irrigation, Ni and Mn were substantially different at p ≥ 0.001 levels. Pb, Ni, and Cd had health risk scores higher than the ones in all ingested vegetables, while Mn had a health risk score greater than the ones in turnips, carrots, and lettuce. The results also showed that both adults and children who consumed these vegetables absorbed a significant amount of the chosen toxic metals. Pb and Cd were shown to be the most dangerous chemical compounds to human health, and everyday consumption of agricultural plants irrigated with wastewater may pose a health risk, according to the health risk criteria.

CO2 emission from soil irrigated with recycled wastewater at different levels and the relationships of emission with soil properties

The use of recycled wastewater in agricultural irrigation contributes to ecosystem by reducing the discharge of wastewater to the environment, as well as increasing soil quality with fertilizing effect. However, since the high nutrient of wastewater can make the soil a source of CO2 emission, it is necessary to know the relationships between CO2 emission and soil properties to the management of emissions. This study aimed to determine the relationships between CO2 emission and soil properties by examining the changes in the properties of soil irrigated with recycled wastewater and freshwater at different levels. The results showed that the recycled wastewater caused 58.1% more CO2 emissions than freshwater in full irrigation treatments, while the emissions decreased in the range of 8.8% to 44.5% with increased deficit irrigation. In addition, the significant relationships of CO2 emission with EC, pH, CaCO3, organic matter, total N, P2O5, K2O, cation exchange capacity, porosity, aggregate stability properties of the soil and H2O emission from the soil, soil moisture and temperature at different depths were determined, demonstrated the effectiveness of these parameters in the management of CO2 emissions in soil irrigated with recycled wastewater. Considering the obtained findings, it was determined that deficit irrigation is very effective in reducing CO2 emission and considering the effectiveness of soil temperature and soil properties on the emissions, CO2 emission can be reduced by soil temperature and soil properties management, and more comprehensive studies on this subject could suggest.

Evaluation of nickel toxicity and potential health implications of agriculturally diversely irrigated wheat crop varieties

Nickel (Ni) is essential for plant metabolism but is dangerous to most plants and other organisms when present in large concentrations. In this study, nickel (Ni) was chosen as an important environmental pollutant and toxic substance due to its widespread availability, and high persistence, causing soil pollution and serious environmental problems. The main aim of the study is to determine the Ni content in various wheat varieties and soil grown in various water regimes (sewage water, groundwater and industrial water) in Punjab, Pakistan. The Ni concentrations were determined via the ecological environment (water, soils) and below (roots) and above-ground plant organs (shoots and wheat grains) and phytostabilization potential assessment using various pollution indices. The results showed that the mean Ni concentration in different wheat varieties varied from 1.35 to 2.45 mg/kg, 1.17 to 2.42 mg/kg, 1.09 to 2.10 mg/kg and 0.99 to 1.54 mg/kg in soil, root, shoot, and grains, respectively. Research findings also revealed that the nickel concentration in soil and grains is within the safe limits and all the indices for Ni are less than 1. As a result, the studied wheat cultivars appear to be safe for consumption. However, it can be said that the continuous use of wastewater for irrigation may pose health risks for living things in the food chain.

Long-term (>90 years) wastewater irrigation effect on the pore characteristics and stability of soil aggregates

Wastewater (WW) agricultural irrigation is becoming a common practice as an alternative to water scarcity. However, WW irrigation may affect the soil structure at different hierarchical levels. This issue was tackled by evaluating the long-term (>90 years) WW irrigation effects on soil structure. Samples of Ap and Ah horizons from eight rainfed and eight WW-irrigated plots were collected for physicochemical characterization. Undisturbed samples were analyzed for aggregate stability, and the pore space of small macroaggregates (0.5–1 mm) from Ah horizons of three rainfed and three WW-irrigated plots was analyzed by x-ray microtomography. Long-term WW-irrigated plots had higher contents of C (Ap = 2.54%; Ah = 1.64%) and N (Ap = 0.24%; Ah = 0.16%) compared to rainfed soils, as well as higher aggregates stability (mean weight diameter = 23.6 mm, p = 0.001). However, soil organic matter accumulation was not the main driver of the higher aggregate stability in WW-irrigated soils (Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.467 and 0.476 for organic C and total N, respectively). It was proposed that a combination of factors including SOM and easily degradable OM (C/N = 2.10) input from WW was the reason for this higher stability. The results did not allow one to conclude on the long-term effect of WW irrigation on the microstructural pore space because the scatter in the data of the rainfed samples was high. Considering a higher number of samples may address this problem. Nevertheless, the findings of this research improve our understanding of the effects of WW irrigation on soil structure and provide a better assessment of the benefits and risks associated with this practice.

Ecological Risk Assessment and Source Contributions of Heavy Metals in the Sediment of the Chan Thnal Reservoir, Kampong Speu, Cambodia

Metal contamination from farming, inadequate wastewater treatment, and poor disposal of municipal garbage are major threats to public health. This research aimed to (1) assess the extent of heavy metal contamination in sediment samples, (2) describe the distribution of heavy metals by locating likely pollution sources using a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, and (3) quantify the potential ecological consequences associated with these metals at six different places around the Chan Thnal Reservoir. The findings indicated steady degradation and suggested moderate to high metal contamination. Fe &gt; Zn &gt; Cr &gt; Cu &gt; Pb &gt; Co &gt; As &gt; Mn &gt; Cd was the trend of metal concentrations in the sediment. Various soil pollution indices showed that most of the studied sediment samples were clean, moderately clean, or slightly contaminated. However, Co and Cd reached high-risk conditions posing a severe problem to the local population living in and around the Chan Thnal Reservoir. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to estimate primary factors in PMF analysis. It was found that the contamination of As, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb originated from agricultural and traffic vehicle sources; however, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cr, and Cu were derived from natural sources (e.g., atmospheric deposition and compost amendment). Furthermore, Fe, Cd, Mn, Co, Pb, and Cr were generated from urban and industrial sources (metal coatings, plastic burning, wastewater irrigation, and sewage sludge). Accordingly, this research improves our knowledge of the prevalence of heavy metal pollution in agroecosystems, which may be used to foresee and mitigate the risks of heavy metal exposure to humans and other organisms.

Economics of Coconut Cultivation Using Treated Sago Industrial Wastewater and Fresh Water in Salem District of Tamil Nadu

The study attempts to examine the socio- economic profile and economics of coconut cultivation using treated sago industrial wastewater and fresh water in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu. A sample of 180 farmers receiving treated wastewater from nearby industrial units and another 180 farmers receiving fresh water (control farms) were selected through a multistage purposive sampling technique. The major finding of economic analysis of coconut cultivation revealed that the gross income of the sample farm using treated sago industrial wastewater was high at ₹ 1,31,408.00 as a result of the better yield of nuts (12540) as compared to that obtained by irrigation with fresh water (12245). The net income per hectare of coconut was ₹ 46,128.64 and ₹ 34,245.72 for the farm using treated wastewater and control farms, respectively. The study; therefore could establish that using treated industrial wastewater for irrigation will be advantageous in terms of net returns and to an extent substitute use of fresh water for irrigation, besides helping to save on use of and expenditure of organic and inorganic fertilizers.

Multimedia fate of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in a water-scarce city by coupling fugacity model and HYDRUS-1D model

Increased concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) have raised concerns about their impact on the ecological system and human health. To understand the environmental impact of PPCPs, we evaluated the fate of a typical PPCP of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in a water-scarce city of Tianjin during 2013–2020 using a coupled model based on the dynamic fugacity model and HYDRUS-1D model. The results showed that the coupled model successfully simulated the reported SMX concentrations in the main fate media of water and soils, which accounted for 46.4 % and 53.0 % with equilibrium concentrations of 135–165 ng/L and 0.4–0.5 ng/g, respectively. The cross-media transfer flux results showed that advection was the prime input path for SMX in water, while degradation was the dominant output path. Wastewater irrigation and degradation were the main transfer processes of SMX in the soil. Moreover, human activities (i.e., emission loads) and climate (i.e., temperature and precipitation) change can significantly affect the concentrations and transfer rate of SMX in the media. These findings provide basic data and methods for the risk assessment of SMX in water-scarce regions.

Urinary outputs of nickel in association with their concentration levels in water, soil, and selected foods among farmers in the industrial estate of district swabi

Diet is the main route of exposure to trace metals, so the assessment risk of these elements to human via dietary intake is important. The non-carcinogenic health risk of Nickel (Ni) to the farmers via dietary intake in the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate (GAIE) Swabi of Kyber Pakhtunkwa was assessed. A cross sectional study was carried out in the GAIE to estimate the concentration of Nickel in all types of vegetables, grains, drinking water, irrigation water, soil and in urine of the farmers. A total of 22 farmers, living within the 2km distance in all four directions were selected and enrolled in the study after signing consent form. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used for the Ni analysis in the collected samples of water (both drinking and irrigation water), soil, foods and in urine of farmers. Results shows that the mean age of the farmers using tube well water and wastewater for irrigation purposes was 43.5±21.01 and 44.75±16.44 years, height was 167.6±3.7 and 165.75±6.02 cm, weight was 61±12.52 and 64.75±9.63 kg and BMI was 21.65±3.73 and 23.7±4.4 respectively. The concentration of the Ni in the wastewater irrigated field was significantly higher than the tube well irrigated field. The mean concentration of Ni in the soil irrigated with wastewater was 123.50±54.74 mg/kg respectively and in the tube-well irrigated field was 54.25±10.14 mg/kg. The Ni concentration in the wastewater irrigated garlic, fodder grass, potato, wheat and maize were 9.15±0.50 mg/kg, 8.82±1.30mg/kg, 7.70±1.04mg/kg and 7.56±1.24mg/kg respectively compared to tube-well irrigated land i.e., 0.97±0.25 mg/kg, 0.64±0.42 mg/kg, 1.08±0.35 mg/kg, 1.05±0.013 mg/kg and 1.02±0.39 mg/kg. A positive correlation was observed between the water, soil, and all crops grown in the GAIE . The bio-accumulation factor was higher for Ni in both the site. The Hazzard Quotient (HQ) for Ni exceeded the 1 for crops irrigated with industrial wastewater compared with tube-well irrigated crops and thus pose adverse health affect to farmers health. This study concluded that a strong association was evident between the Ni concentration in crops and cereals and waste-water irrigation.