Abstract
The use of treated municipal wastewater in agricultural irrigation has become commonplace throughout the world for many years. So far, numerous research has been accomplished on the harms and benefits behind this work. This study was carried out in two parts to investigate the following issues: First, calculating 14 irrigation indices to ensure the appropriateness of using treated municipal wastewater in agricultural land irrigation, and second, conducting soil column experiments along with numerical modeling to predict contaminant transport in soil using HYDRUS-1D software and to investigate the possibility of using treated municipal wastewater in irrigation without harming groundwater resources. The results revealed that although most indices display the suitability of Wastewater for irrigation, some show the opposite. Accordingly, four indices of Magnesium Hazard (mean = 53.3%), Kelly’s Ratio (mean = 1.06 \(\mathrm{meq}/\mathrm{L}\)), Corrosivity Ratio (mean = 2.3), and Total Hardness (mean = 245.8 \(\mathrm{mg}/\mathrm{L}\)) are higher than the allowable limit of irrigation standards. Hence, wastewater reuse can cause problems concerning the physicochemical and microbial properties of soil as well as crop production. Finally, hydraulic conductivity (\(K\)= 252.73 \(\mathrm{cm}/\mathrm{day}\)), porosity (\(\Phi \) = 38%), saturated soil water content (\({\theta }_{s}\) = 0.27), bulk density (\({\rho }_{b}\) = 1.81 \(g/{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}\)), and longitudinal dispersivity (\({D}_{l}\) = 14.81 \(\mathrm{m}\)) were given as input data to the model. The transport modeling determined that heavy metals’ mobility in the soil is as follows \(\mathrm{Ti}>\mathrm{Mn}>\mathrm{Al}>\mathrm{Sb}>\mathrm{Sn}>\mathrm{Fe}=\mathrm{V}>\mathrm{Zr}>\mathrm{Co}\). Thus, \(\mathrm{Ti}\) and \(\mathrm{Co}\) have the highest and lowest mobility, respectively. As a result, it can be said that \(\mathrm{Ti}\) has the highest possibility of leaching and contaminating groundwater in the long run due to its high mobility.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data are provided in the manuscript.
References
Ahmed D-A, Slima D, Al-Yasi H, Hassan L, Galal T (2023) Risk assessment of trace metals in Solanum Lycopersicum L. (tomato) grown under wastewater irrigation conditions. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25157-8
Akbar S, Ali Z, Hussain S, Mohammad A, Riaz Y, Shakeel A, Quraishi UM (2021) Metal accumulation potential, human health risks, and yield attributes of hundred bread wheat genotypes on irrigation with municipal and remediated wastewater. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:35023–35037. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13085-4
Alraaydi NS, El-majberi SH, Alfakhri HH, Elbagermi T (2021) Some physiochemical and microbiological characteristics of wastewater and possibility usage in agriculture. Mediterr J Basic Appl Sci (MJBAS) 5(4):27–43
Altaf M, Diao X-P, Shakoor A, Imtiaz M, Rehman A-U, Altaf M, Khan L (2022) Delineating vanadium (v) ecological distribution, its toxicant potential, and effective remediation strategies from contaminated soils. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22:121–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00638-2
Amiri N, Nakhaei M (2021) An investigation of qualitative variations of groundwater resources under municipal wastewater recharge using numerical and laboratory models, Nazarabad plain. Iran Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(39):55771–55785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12638-x
Anyanwu E, Nwachukwu E (2020) Heavy metal content and health risk assessment of a South-eastern Nigeria River. Appl Water Sci 10:210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01296-y
Assouline S, Kamai T, Šimůnek J, Narkis K, Silber A (2020) Mitigating the impact of irrigation with effluent water: mixing with freshwater and/or adjusting irrigation management and design. Water Resour Res 56(9):e202WR002. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027781
Balasooriya B, Chaminda G, Weragoda S, Kankanamge C, Kawakami T (2021) Assessment of groundwater quality in sri lanka using multivariate statistical techniques. In: Sitharam T, Snow D, Honda R, Mukherjee S (eds) Contaminants in drinking and wastewater sources: challenges and reigning technologies. Springer, Singapore, pp 117–136
Balkhi A, Ebrahimian H, Ghameshlou A, Amini M (2023) Modeling of nitrate and ammonium leaching and crop uptake under wastewater application considering nitrogen cycle in the soil. Model Earth Syst Environ 9:901. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-022-01546-9
Cornu R, Béduneau A, Martin H (2022) Ingestion of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: a definite health risk for consumers and their progeny. Arch Toxicol 96:2655–2686. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-022-03334-x
Crompton TR (1996) Carbonate, Bicarbonate and Total Alkalinity. In: determination of anions: a guide for the analytical chemist (ed). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. pp 400–418
da Silva P, Vargas J, Mariano A, Severo I (2020) Phycoremediation: role of microalgae in waste management and energy production. In: Kashyap B, Solanki M, Kamboj D, Pandey A (eds) Waste to energy: prospects and applications. Springer, Singapore, p 438
de Oliveira Souza S, Lima G, de Alencar F, de Oliveira Nobre Batista A, da Silva F, (2020) Assessment of water quality for industrial and irrigation purposes based on ionic indices in the Sítios Novos Reservoir, Ceará Brazil Sustain. Water Resour Manag 6:95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00452-1
Douglas W, McConchie D (1994) Analytical sedimentology. Springer, US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2636-0
Dubal D, Holze R (2014) X-Ray diffraction methods. In: Kreysa G, Ota K-I, Savinell R (eds) Encyclopedia of applied electrochemistry. Springer, New York, pp 2158–2164
EPA. (2004). Guidelines for water reuse. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/
EPA. (2012). Guidelines for water reuse. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/
Filho W, Azul A, Brandli L, Salvia A, Wall T (2022) Clean water and sanitation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95846-0
Filipovic V, Cerne M, Šimunek J, Filipovic L, Romic M, Ondrašek G, Ban D (2020) Modeling water flow and phosphorus sorption in a soil amended with sewage sludge and olive pomace as compost or biochar. Agronomy 10(8):1163. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081163
Fito J, Van Hulle S (2021) Wastewater reclamation and reuse potentials in agriculture: towards environmental sustainability. Environ Dev Sustain 23:2949–2972. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00732-y
Gallego S, Brienza M, Béguet J, Chiron S, Martin-Laurent F (2021) Impact of repeated irrigation of lettuce cultures with municipal wastewater on soil bacterial community diversity and composition. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14734-4
Ghangrekar M (2022) Wastewater to water: principles, technologies and engineering design. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4048-4
Ghobadi A, Cheraghi M, Sobhanardakani S, Lorestani B, Merrikhpour H (2020) Hydrogeochemical characteristics, temporal, and spatial variations for evaluation of groundwater quality of hamedan-bahar plain as a major agricultural region. West of Iran Environ Earth Sci 79:428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09177-y
Gross JH (2017) Mass spectrometry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54398-7
Gutierrez-Gines M, Mishra M, McIntyre C, Chau H, Esperschuetz J, McLenaghen R, Robinson B (2020) Risks and benefits of pasture irrigation using treated municipal effluent: a lysimeter case study, Canterbury, New Zealand. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:11830–11841. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07759-8
Hadidi NA, Hadidi MA (2021) Suitability of reclaimed wastewater effluent from decentralized wastewater plant for irrigation. Appl Water Sci 11:173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-021-01500-7
Hasanoghli A, Liaghat A (2009) Effect of recharge practices with treated domestic wastewater of Ekbatan complex on mineral and biological pollutants transfer to shadow aquifer. J Water Soil 23(1):143. https://doi.org/10.22067/JSW.V0I0.1546
Iqbal Z, Abbas F, Ibrahim M, Mahmood A, Gul M, Qureshi TI (2022) Ecological risk assessment of soils under different wastewater irrigation farming system in Punjab. Pakistan Int J Environ Sci Technol 19:1925–1936. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03237-x
IRNDOE. (2010). Wastewater standards. Retrieved from https://www.doe.ir/
Jia S, Zhang X (2020) Biological HRPs in wastewater. In: Ren H, Zhang X (eds) High-Risk Pollutants in Wastewater. Elsevier, New Jersey, pp 41–78
Karunanidhi D, Aravinthasamy P, Deepali M, Subramani T, Bellows B, Li P (2021) Groundwater quality evolution based on geochemical modeling and aptness testing for ingestion using entropy water quality and total hazard indexes in an urban-industrial area (Tiruppur) of Southern India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:18523–18538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10724-0
Khaskhoussy K, Kahlaoui B, Misle E, Hachicha M (2022) Impact of irrigation with treated wastewater on physical-chemical properties of two soil types and corn plant (zea mays). J Soil Sci Plant Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00739-y
Li Z, Kuang H, Li L, Wu M, Liao Z, Zeng K, Fan R (2022) What adverse health effects will environmental heavy metal co-exposure bring us: based on a biological monitoring study of sanitation workers. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24805-9
Lin Q, Xu S (2020) Co-transport of heavy metals in layered saturated soil: characteristics and simulation. Environ Pollut 261:114072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114072
Liu W, Zafar A, Khan ZI, Nadeem M, Ahmad K, Wajid K, Ashfaq A (2020) Bioaccumulation of lead in different varieties of wheat plant irrigated with wastewater in remote agricultural regions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:27937–27951. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09138-9
Liu C, Liu F, Andersen MN, Wang G, Wu K, Zhao Q, Ye Z (2021) Domestic wastewater infiltration process in desert sandy soil and its irrigation prospect analysis. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 208:111419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111419
Mahmood, S. (2021). Making the Case for Wastewater Irrigation in Bangladesh. In M. Babel, A. Haarstrick, L. Ribbe, V. Shinde, & N. Dichtl (Eds.), Water Security in Asia: Opportunities and Challenges in the Context of Climate Change (1 ed., pp. XIX, 797). Springer, Cham. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54612-4
Mallick J, Kumar A, Almesfer M, Alsubih M, Singh C, Ahmed M, Khan R (2021) An index-based approach to assess groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation in Asir region of Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 14:157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06506-8
Marcos C (2022) Methods and applications of X-ray diffraction in crystallography and mineralogy. In: C Marcos, crystallography: introduction to the study of minerals. Springer, Cham. pp 383–436. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96783-3_17
Meija J, Michałowska-Kaczmarczyk A, Michałowski T (2016) Mohr’s method challenge. Anal Bioanal Chem 408:1721–1722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9273-2
Minhas PS, Bali A, Bhardwaj AK, Singh A, Yadav RK (2021) Structural stability and hydraulic characteristics of soils irrigated for two decades with waters having residual alkalinity and its neutralization with gypsum and sulfuric acid. Agric Water Manag 244:106609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106609
Murtaza G, Rehman M, Qadir M, Shehzad M, Zeeshan N, Ahmad H, Naidu R (2021) High residual sodium carbonate water in the Indian subcontinent: concerns, challenges and remediation. Int J Environ Sci Technol 18:3257–3272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03066-4
Natasha Shahid M, Khalid S, Murtaza B, Anwar H, Shah AH, Niazi NK (2020) A critical analysis of wastewater use in agriculture and associated health risks in Pakistan. Environ Geochem Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00702-3
Ovuoraye P, Ugonabo V, Nwokocha G (2021) Optimization studies on turbidity removal from cosmetics wastewater using aluminum sulfate and blends of fishbone. SN Appl Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-021-04458-y
Panneerselvam B, Muniraj K, Thomas M, Ravichandran N, Bidorn B (2021) Identifying influencing groundwater parameter on human health associate with irrigation indices using the automatic linear model (ALM) in a semi-arid region in India. Environ Res. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111778
Parwin R, Paul KK (2020) Assessment of kitchen wastewater quality for irrigation. Appl Water Sci 10:240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-020-01278-0
Pham DD, Suhono AH, Kaku N, Masuda S, Takakai F, Watanabe T (2021) Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from paddy fields with no fertilizer use under continuous irrigation with treated municipal wastewater. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:23420–23431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12328-0
Radcliffe D, Šimůnek J (2010) Soil physics with HYDRUS: modeling and applications. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. doi: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315275666
Rahman A, Tiwari KK, Mondal NC (2020) Hydrochemical characterization for groundwater suitability in a semi-arid area in Sanganer Block, Jaipur District, Rajasthan. J Geol Soc India 96:399–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-020-1569-y
Rajput, V., Yadav, A., Jatav, H., Singh, S., & Minkina, T. (2022) Sustainable management and utilization of sewage sludge. Springer: Cham. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85226-9
Rassam, D., Šimůnek, J., Mallants, D., & van Genuchten, M. (2018). The HYDRUS-1D software package for simulating the one-dimensional movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably-saturated Media: Tutorial. CSIRO Land and Water, Adelaide, Australia.
Rate A (2022) Urban soils: principles and practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87316-5
Ritgen, U. (2023). Analytical chemistry. Springer Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-66336-3
Rustamov G, İsmaylova L (2022) Geochemistry landscape classification: toxicity of chemical elements and their impact on human health. Environ Geochem Health 44:631–643. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00747-4
Sharma L, Sarangthem I, Thangjam R, Sadhukhan R, Oinam N, Yanglem B, Jatav H (2022) Sewage sludge and its health risk assessment: opportunities and challenges. In V Rajput, A Yadav, H Jatav, S Singh, & T Minkina (Eds), sustainable management and utilization of sewage sludge. Springer, Cham. p 425 doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85226-9
Singh KK, Tewari G, Kumar S (2020) Evaluation of groundwater quality for suitability of irrigation purposes: a case study in the Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. J Chem 15:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6924026
Sule S, Abashiya M, Musa I (2021) Analysis of water quality of small scale irrigation scheme in Kwadon, Yamaltu-Deba LGA of Gombe state, Nigeria. EQA Int J Environ Qual 41:33–39. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2281-4485/11166
Tabatabaei S-H, Nourmahnad N, Golestani Kermani S, Tabatabaei S-A, Najafi P, Heidarpour M (2020) Urban wastewater reuse in agriculture for irrigation in arid and semi-arid regions-a review. Int J Recycl Organ Waste Agric 9:193–220. https://doi.org/10.30486/IJROWA.2020.671672
Tang X-F, Wu Y, Han L-B, Lan Z, Rong X-P (2022) Characteristics of heavy metal migration in farmland. Environ Earth Sci 81(12):338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10429-2
Touil S, Chabaca MN, Hasbaia O (2020) Impact assessment of long treated wastewater irrigation on soil and crops in Algeria. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 5:65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-020-00187-7
Ungureanu N, Valentin V, Voicu G (2020) Water scarcity and wastewater reuse in crop irrigation. Sustainability 12(21):9055. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219055
Verma A, Gaharwar US, Priyadarshini E, Rajamani P (2022) Metal accumulation and health risk assessment in wastewater used for irrigation around the Agra Canal in Faridabad, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29:8623–8637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16088-3
Vuong X, Vu L, Duong A, Duong H, Hoang T, Luu M, Minh T (2022) Speciation and environmental risk assessment of heavy metals in soil from a lead/zinc mining site in Vietnam. Int J Environ Sci Technol 20(5):5295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04339-w
Wei L, Ding Q, Guo H, Xiu W, Guo Z (2021) Forms and mobility of heavy metals/metalloids in sewage-irrigated soils in the North China Plain. J Soils Sediments 21:215–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02744-7
Xie Q, Ren B (2022) Pollution and risk assessment of heavy metals in rivers in the antimony capital of Xikuangshan. Sci Rep 12:14393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18584-z
Xu Y, Fan Z, Huang Q, Lou Z, Xu X, Xu Y, Shen Y (2022) Cr migration potential and species properties in the soil profile from a chromate production site in the groundwater depression cone area. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-022-03469-8
Yang J-Y, Luo H-Q, Zhu Y-Y, Yu Y-Q, He W-Y, Wu Z-Z, Wang B (2020) Adsorption-desorption and co-migration of vanadium on colloidal kaolinite. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:17910–17922. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07845-x
Zierold K, Myers J, Brock G, Zhang C, Sears C, Sears L (2022) Heavy metal(loid) body burden in environmentally exposed children with and without internalizing behavior problems. Expo Health 14:903–914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-022-00469-1
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by NA and MN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by NA and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
All authors made substantial contributions to the conception, design, data interpretation, and all the steps involved in this work.
Consent to publishing
All authors have approved the version to be published.
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Q. Aguilar-Virgen.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Amiri, N., Nakhaei, M. Evaluating the potential of treated municipal wastewater reuse in irrigation and groundwater recharge; 5-year contaminant transport modeling. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 21, 577–602 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-05293-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-05293-x