Risk analysis of wastewater reuse in agriculture

Two of the main concerns for wastewater reuse in agricultural irrigation are environmental and human security. Differentresearch studies and practices have been developed recently in order to quantify the risk of possible environmentalcontamination of surface and groundwater resources as well as the risk to public health from enteric viruses. Other, farfrom negligible, related issues are largely of a socio-economic and technical character. For example, the socialacceptance, especially by farmers, of wastewater reclamation and reuse in agriculture is influenced by specific localcultural, religious and socio-economic conditions. Economic and technical factors should also be taken intoconsideration, such as the water and wastewater treatment costs, the cost of maintenance, the employment of rurallabour, the structure of irrigation networks and crop patterns. In this paper, the concept of sustainability in wastewaterreclamation and reuse is formulated by using a general risk analysis framework and by taking into account all the abovefactors. The paper suggests a methodology for sustainable wastewater reuse in agriculture by considering not onlytechnical and economic factors, but also environmental and social risks. Alternative strategies based on differenttreatment and irrigation technologies are evaluated using the multicriteria decision analysis technique. The methodologyis illustrated in a case study of wastewater reclamation and agricultural reuse in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia,Greece.

Keywords:

Wastewater reclamation , Reuse , Irrigation , Risk analysis , Multicriteria decision making