scholarly journals Coupling Water Resources and Agricultural Practices for Sorghum in a Semiarid Environment

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 2288
Author(s):  
Ailton Alves de Carvalho ◽  
Abelardo A. de A. Montenegro ◽  
João L. M. P. de Lima ◽  
Thieres George Freire da Silva ◽  
Elvira Maria Regis Pedrosa ◽  
...  

Water scarcity and changing rainfall distribution have caused uncertainties in relation to agricultural production in semiarid areas. In this context, water reuse for irrigation is a promising alternative, although requiring irrigation and agricultural management. Production of forage plants is strategic for semiarid areas due to their high tolerance to stresses and use as animal fodder. The objective of this work was to evaluate the combined performance of treated wastewater irrigation and mulching on forage sorghum and on soil attributes in Northeast Brazil. Sorghum was cropped in November 2018, three months before the beginning of the hydrologic year, and cultivated over three cycles until April 2019. The experiment was designed with five irrigation depths (60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% of crop evapotranspiration), and with four soil cover conditions (0% (witness), soil covered with native vegetation, with coconut coir, and with macerated moringa seeds), adopting four replications. Irrigation with treated wastewater promoted linear increases in forage sorghum yield at irrigation depths of up to 140% of crop evapotranspiration. Mulch promoted a 24% increase in productivity in relation to the area where conservation was not practiced, being able to control salinity while also contributing to the higher incorporation of organic matter. Irrigation with treated wastewater had no negative agronomic impacts on soil, once natural rainfall events typical of the Brazilian semiarid region allowed effective salt leaching from shallow sandy soils.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Maria Josiell Nascimento da Silva ◽  
Ahmad Saeed Khan ◽  
Patrícia Verônica Pinheiro Sales Lima

The semi-arid region of Ceará is a Brazilian area that is exposed to long and frequent periods of drought. Water scarcity is a threat to the population’s well-being and agricultural activities. We evaluated the effects of graywater reuse for agriculture on income and sustainability of agricultural production in the municipality of Iguatu, located in the semiarid region of the state of Ceará. It is an important research because it deals with a strategy that aims to reduce farmers’ vulnerability to the lack of water. There are no studies that assess the impacts of water reuse in the region. The propensity score matching technique was applied, and primary data were obtained by interviewing beneficiaries (treated group) and non-beneficiaries (control group). The results showed that the program has effects on sustainable agricultural production of small farmers because of the use of non-aggressive agricultural practices. In the group of beneficiaries, the income is 21.9% higher than of that in the group of non-beneficiaries. In addition, families that adopt water reuse have 26.8% higher levels of sustainability than those that do not adopt this strategy of living with drought.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Juanico ◽  
Eran Friedler

Most of the water has been captured in the rivers of Israel and they have turned into dry river-beds which deliver only sporadic winter floods. In a semi-arid country where literally every drop of water is used, reclaimed wastewater is the most feasible water source for river recovery. Two topics are addressed in this paper: water quality management in rivers where most of the flowing water is treated wastewater, and the allocations of reclaimed wastewater required for the recovery of rivers and streams. Water quality management must consider that the main source of water to the river has a pollution loading which reduces its capability to absorb other pollution impacts. The allocation of treated wastewater for the revival of rivers may not affect negatively the water balance of the region; it may eventually improve it. An upstream bruto allocation of 122 MCM/year of wastewater for the recovery of 14 rivers in Israel may favor downstream reuse of this wastewater, resulting in a small neto allocation and in an increase of the water resources available to the country. The discharge of effluents upstream to revive the river followed by their re-capture downstream for irrigation, implies a further stage in the intensification of water reuse.


2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1811-1823 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Cau ◽  
C. Paniconi

Abstract. Quantifying the impact of land use on water supply and quality is a primary focus of environmental management. In this work we apply a semidistributed hydrological model (SWAT) to predict the impact of different land management practices on water and agricultural chemical yield over a long period of time for a study site situated in the Arborea region of central Sardinia, Italy. The physical processes associated with water movement, crop growth, and nutrient cycling are directly modeled by SWAT. The model simulations are used to identify indicators that reflect critical processes related to the integrity and sustainability of the ecosystem. Specifically we focus on stream quality and quantity indicators associated with anthropogenic and natural sources of pollution. A multicriteria decision support system is then used to develop the analysis matrix where water quality and quantity indicators for the rivers, lagoons, and soil are combined with socio-economic variables. The DSS is used to assess four options involving alternative watersheds designated for intensive agriculture and dairy farming and the use or not of treated wastewater for irrigation. Our analysis suggests that of the four options, the most widely acceptable consists in the transfer of intensive agricultural practices to the larger watershed, which is less vulnerable, in tandem with wastewater reuse, which rates highly due to water scarcity in this region of the Mediterranean. More generally, the work demonstrates how both qualitative and quantitative methods and information can assist decision making in complex settings.


2011 ◽  
Vol 695 ◽  
pp. 626-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Soo Mun ◽  
Sang Ho Lee ◽  
Jung Hun Lee ◽  
Jeong Yul Suh ◽  
Ree Ho Kim

Urban areas consume huge amounts of water and produce much wastewater, which deteriorate the aquatic environment and exhaust the country’s freshwater resources. Water reuse from sewage and wastewater is recognized as a good option for securing water. There are several kinds of processes for improving the water quality. Nutrient removal is very important for water reuse, especially in water supply for outdoor use, to prevent water quality deterioration via eutrophication. Moreover, low cost and easy maintenance should be considered for nutrient removal. In this study, red mud and BauxsolTM, a mixed mineral powder made of physicochemically modified red mud residue generated by the Bayer process for alumina refineries, was used for the removal of nitrate and heavy metals in artificial solution, and of phosphate in final effluent, from a sewage treatment plant in Dae-gu, Republic of Korea. Nitrate removal by red mud showed little efficiency while heavy metal removal showed high efficiency. The concentrations of the total phosphate in the effluent and treated water were 1.51 and 0.14 mg/L, respectively, which represent about 90.7% removal. Before and after the treatment, the pH was maintained at a neutral range of 6.5-7.2. BauxsolTM also showed a high heavy metal removal capacity. Therefore, BauxsolTM in powder and pellet form can be applied individually or mixed with soil to improve water quality for water reuse.


2010 ◽  
Vol 07 (14) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Bárbara Martins RODRIGUES ◽  
Alexandre Andrade CERQUEIRA ◽  
Carlos RUSSO ◽  
Monica Regina da Costa MARQUES

Treatment of industrial wastewater has grown in the last years and industries have been continuously searching improvements in the treatment`s processes based on CONAMA 357/2005 resolution. In this context, the electroflocculation may be a promising alternative due to its economic and environmental benefits, allowing water reuse. This work aims to study the treatment of oil production water by electroflocculation process, with aluminum electrode, in a batch reactor. The study focused on removal of OG, color, turbidity and boron. The results indicate that the process of electroflocculation is a technically viable alternative for removal of OG, color and turbidity, obtaining average removals of 84%, 83% and 83%, respectively. However, it wasn’t efficient to remove boron.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2764
Author(s):  
Argyro Plevri ◽  
Klio Monokrousou ◽  
Christos Makropoulos ◽  
Christos Lioumis ◽  
Nikolaos Tazes ◽  
...  

Water reuse and recycling is gaining momentum as a way to improve the circularity of cities, while recognizing the central role of water within a circular economy (CE) context. However, such interventions often depend on the location of wastewater treatment plants and the treatment technologies installed in their premises, while relying on an expensive piped network to ensure that treated wastewater gets transported from the treatment plant to the point of demand. Thus, the penetration level of treated wastewater as a source of non-potable supply in dense urban environments is limited. This paper focuses on the demonstration of a sewer mining (SM) unit as a source of treated wastewater, as part of a larger and more holistic configuration that examines all three ‘streams’ associated with water in CE: water, energy and materials. The application area is the Athens Plant Nursery, in the (water stressed) city of Athens, Greece. SM technology is in fact a mobile wastewater treatment unit in containers able to extract wastewater from local sewers, treat it directly and reuse at the point of demand even in urban environments with limited space. The unit consists of a membrane bioreactor unit (MBR) and a UV disinfection unit and produces high quality reclaimed water for irrigation and also for aquifer recharge during the winter. Furthermore, a short overview of the integrated nutrient and energy recovery subsystem is presented in order to conceptualise the holistic approach and circularity of the whole configuration. The SM technology demonstrates flexibility, scalability and replicability, which are important characteristics for innovation uptake within the emerging CE context and market.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Sonja Bauer

Due to water scarcity, which is worsening due to climate change, rural areas often face the challenge of rural exoduses. Limited water resources restrict local farmers as the opportunities for cultivation in the fields are reduced. This makes rural areas increasingly unattractive. To strengthen rural areas, sustainable water management with a focus on water-reuse is required. Since treated wastewater is a daily resource with calculable quantities available, reused water can contribute to the sustainable strengthening of a region. Therefore, an analysis of water-reuse potentials must be conducted to develop a water-reuse concept and thus increase the application of reused water. For this purpose, a case study of Wuwei as a rural and water-scarce region in China was chosen. By using a geoinformation system, the unfulfilled water-reuse potential can be identified by intersecting the results of the analysis regarding the current water supply and disposal situation with spatial and regional information, such as population data. Hence, the study presents the potential to increase wastewater treatment and water-reuse for, e.g., agricultural irrigation. It is shown that, in the best case, reused water can be increased from 5479 m3 per day to 207,461 m3 per day. Resource efficiency can be further increased by combining water-reuse concepts with land-use strategies adapted to climate change. This will ensure a more sustainable water supply in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valdes Ramos ◽  
Aguilera Gonzalez ◽  
Tobón Echeverri ◽  
Samaniego Moreno ◽  
Díaz Jiménez ◽  
...  

This paper presents an assessment of three potential applications of municipal treated wastewater in a semiarid region of northern Mexico. The potential applications considered are agriculture, industry, and watering urban green areas. The results indicate that in the best scenario, the maximal application of treated wastewater is 150 L/s for industrial activities. Besides industrial applications, this scenario would allow farmers and urban green areas to receive 980 L/s and 70 L/s of treated wastewater respectively. Other issues and alternatives are also identified. With the implementation of this scenario, it is possible to improve the environmental, and even the socioeconomic conditions, of the study region.


Author(s):  
Viviane F. Silva ◽  
Carlos V. C. Bezerra ◽  
Elka C. S. Nascimento ◽  
Tricia N. F. Ferreira ◽  
Vera L. A. Lima ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT With the occurrence of prolonged droughts in the Brazilian semi-arid region, water scarcity directly influences agriculture in this region, so that water reuse and bovine manure application become a viable alternative for pepper production. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the sustainable production of chili peppers (Capsicum frutescens) under levels of irrigation with treated wastewater and doses of bovine manure. The following bovine manure doses were considered: D1 (0% manure and 100% soil), D2 (10% manure and 90% soil), D3 (20% manure and 80% soil), D4 (30% manure and 70% soil), D5 (40% manure and 60% soil) and D6 (50% manure and 50% soil), based on volume. Three levels of irrigation were applied, based on the water requirement of the crop (WR), namely: 100% WR (L1), 75% WR (L2) and 50% WR (L3). Production variables and physical characteristics of the produced peppers were evaluated. Pepper production (g plant-1) increased as 10% of bovine manure were added in substrate composition. Increasing concentration of bovine manure and using 50% WR provided favorable conditions for the organic production of chili pepper.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Zimmermann ◽  
Michaela Fischer

Abstract Water-saving agricultural practices can reduce negative environmental impacts in water-scarce regions all over the world. This study deals with an innovation that combines hydroponic crop production and municipal wastewater reuse for irrigation purposes. The research question was what impacts such hydroponic water reuse systems have on product confidence, economic viability, groundwater recharge, biodiversity and landscape quality. It should also be clarified under which conditions and with which measures these systems can be sustainable. To answer these questions, a number of generic hydroponic water reuse systems were modeled and assessed using a Bayesian Belief Network that included both numerical values and expert knowledge. The hydroponic water reuse systems with the most positive overall impacts are small-scale food production systems (tomatoes) equipped with lighting and heating whose products are marked with a quality label or with a label for regional products. The systems are located in a former industrial area. In addition, a wetland system and landscape integration are implemented as landscaping measures. Hydroponic systems can be operated economically viable, their products have a high level of product confidence and their ecological impacts can be positive. No tradeoffs have to be accepted between economic, social and ecological goals.


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