228
A. Z. Yaser and N. N. Safie
4 Acceptable Criteria for Sewage Recycling
Sewage is known to be recycled which offers resource and financial savings. Water
recycling is reusing treated wastewater for beneficial purposes such as agricultural
and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing a
groundwater basin (referred to as groundwater recharge). Sewage that has been
treated needs to meet certain criteria before it is being used for further use in order to
protect public health (Rahman et al. 2016). Although the water has been treated, the
containment of pathogens and contaminants still persist that are potentially detrimental to soils or plant growth and pose a risk to the environment and public health. Hence,
strict regulations and guidelines have been outlined to meet the safety requirements
for the treated water prior to recycling.
The reusability of treated water must undergo scientific examinations to ensure
that it is safe to be reused (Jeong et al. 2016). Organizations and agencies such
as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and Department of Environment and
Conservation (DEC) have outlined their rules and regulations that need to be enforced
prior to water recycling as an objective of protecting the environment and human
from danger.
As shown in Table 6, US EPA has outlined strict standards where it totally eliminates the risk of infection especially on the crop that for human consumption or
expose to public people especially as in campus. The guidelines for irrigation using
recycled water have also been outlined by World Health Organization (WHO) that
has been successfully applied to irrigation reuse applications throughout the world.
Irrigation of crops (both food and nonfood) with untreated wastewater is widely
practiced in many parts of the developing world with accompanying adverse public
health outcomes (WHO 2006). According to WHO (2006), the microbial reduction
target has to achieve certain target for different types of irrigation in agriculture that
is to achieve the health-based target.
When using treated wastewater for irrigation, water quality must be strictly controlled considering factors such as the possible accumulation of substances which
are harmful for crop growth, the potential damage to soil by the transformation of
its physical and chemical characteristics, and microbe infection (Rhee et al. 2009).
Using untreated wastewater for agriculture can cause parasitosis or waterborne epidemics, and there have been numerous reports on the break of infectious diseases
due to inappropriate wastewater reuse (WHO 2006).
The permissible limit for the conventional and nonconventional contaminants
in sewage or wastewater is not only different for each of the organizations but also
countries around the world as shown in Table 7 below. Different country has different
regulations regarding the water recycling as it gaining attention due to its applicability in many areas For instance in Australia, levels of different contaminants in
the recycled water are within the range of Australian Standards for urban irrigation
(Rahman et al. 2016).
A. Z. Yaser and N. N. Safie
4 Acceptable Criteria for Sewage Recycling
Sewage is known to be recycled which offers resource and financial savings. Water
recycling is reusing treated wastewater for beneficial purposes such as agricultural
and landscape irrigation, industrial processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing a
groundwater basin (referred to as groundwater recharge). Sewage that has been
treated needs to meet certain criteria before it is being used for further use in order to
protect public health (Rahman et al. 2016). Although the water has been treated, the
containment of pathogens and contaminants still persist that are potentially detrimental to soils or plant growth and pose a risk to the environment and public health. Hence,
strict regulations and guidelines have been outlined to meet the safety requirements
for the treated water prior to recycling.
The reusability of treated water must undergo scientific examinations to ensure
that it is safe to be reused (Jeong et al. 2016). Organizations and agencies such
as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and Department of Environment and
Conservation (DEC) have outlined their rules and regulations that need to be enforced
prior to water recycling as an objective of protecting the environment and human
from danger.
As shown in Table 6, US EPA has outlined strict standards where it totally eliminates the risk of infection especially on the crop that for human consumption or
expose to public people especially as in campus. The guidelines for irrigation using
recycled water have also been outlined by World Health Organization (WHO) that
has been successfully applied to irrigation reuse applications throughout the world.
Irrigation of crops (both food and nonfood) with untreated wastewater is widely
practiced in many parts of the developing world with accompanying adverse public
health outcomes (WHO 2006). According to WHO (2006), the microbial reduction
target has to achieve certain target for different types of irrigation in agriculture that
is to achieve the health-based target.
When using treated wastewater for irrigation, water quality must be strictly controlled considering factors such as the possible accumulation of substances which
are harmful for crop growth, the potential damage to soil by the transformation of
its physical and chemical characteristics, and microbe infection (Rhee et al. 2009).
Using untreated wastewater for agriculture can cause parasitosis or waterborne epidemics, and there have been numerous reports on the break of infectious diseases
due to inappropriate wastewater reuse (WHO 2006).
The permissible limit for the conventional and nonconventional contaminants
in sewage or wastewater is not only different for each of the organizations but also
countries around the world as shown in Table 7 below. Different country has different
regulations regarding the water recycling as it gaining attention due to its applicability in many areas For instance in Australia, levels of different contaminants in
the recycled water are within the range of Australian Standards for urban irrigation
(Rahman et al. 2016).