Practical Use of Effluent Irrigation

Abstract

Irrigation with sewage effluent has been successfully practiced over a long period (Pound and Grites 1973b; Harlin 1979; Page et al. 1983; Shuval et al. 1986). The earliest documented sewage farms were those of Bunzlau, Germany, and Edinburgh, Scotland, which were in operation in 1531 and around 1650, respectively. Many other farms, such as those in London, Paris (1868), Berlin (1876) and Melbourne (1897), were established later. Sullivan et al. (1973) carried out an extensive survey on land application of sewage effluent of various municipal and industrial origins. According to their findings, land application of wastewater from community and industrial processing sources is widespread in the US and many other countries throughout the world, and under proper conditions, is a workable alternative to advanced or tertiary treatment of municipal wastes. Page et al. (1983) concluded that land treatment systems are now successfully operated throughout the world. Moreover, problems can be controlled through proper engineering operation and management. Some representative examples of waste water use, including long term experiments are presented below.