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Treatment Systems for Agricultural Drainage Water and Farmyard Runoff in Denmark: Case Studies

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Cost-efficient Wastewater Treatment Technologies

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 117))

Abstract

Nutrient losses from agricultural lands are responsible for degrading water quality and accelerating eutrophication at local and regional scale. Subsurface tile drainage is an agricultural water management measure extensively used in some Northwestern European countries to improve poor internal field drainage and crop production. However, drains constitute artificial and direct conduits responsible for shortening the residence time and accelerating nutrient transport through the hydrological system. Thus, they put the aquatic ecosystems at risk since they promote rapid drainage water transport and reduce the possibility for natural nutrient removal.

Edge-of-field technologies have been developed and implemented in the last decades to reduce diffuse pollution caused by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses. These technologies are primarily used in critical source areas, where measures at farm-scale appear insufficient to meet the removal targets. They are placed at the edge of agricultural fields and connected to the main drainage pipe. Widely recognized technologies include constructed wetlands, woodchips bioreactors, and filter systems. This chapter presents the results obtained in Denmark from three different and currently investigated edge-of-field technologies treating agricultural drainage water.

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Acknowledgements

These research studies were part of the iDRAIN project funded by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries under the Green Development and Demonstration Program (grant number 3405-10-0142), Future Cropping project funded by Innovation Fund Denmark (grant number 5107-479 00002B), SupremeTech project funded by the Danish Strategic Research Council (grant number 09-067280). The authors are grateful for the research support provided by Charlotte Kjaergaard, Francesco Chidichimo, Henrik Skovgaard, Lipe R.D. Mendes, Mathias Kusk, Michele De Biase.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark

    Lorenzo Pugliese, Goswin J. Heckrath & Bo V. Iversen

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy

    Salvatore Straface

Authors
  1. Lorenzo Pugliese
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  2. Goswin J. Heckrath
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  3. Bo V. Iversen
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  4. Salvatore Straface
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo Pugliese .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt

    Mahmoud Nasr

  2. Water and Water Structures Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim M. Negm

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Pugliese, L., Heckrath, G.J., Iversen, B.V., Straface, S. (2021). Treatment Systems for Agricultural Drainage Water and Farmyard Runoff in Denmark: Case Studies. In: Nasr, M., Negm, A.M. (eds) Cost-efficient Wastewater Treatment Technologies. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 117. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2021_784

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