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Biological Risks of Waste Water for Irrigation
Summary
This study examined the biological risks of using treated wastewater for irrigation, including contamination by pathogens, heavy metals, and microplastics, and the implications for agricultural sustainability and public health.
Increasing activities in the World, enhance the pressure on freshwater resources. The most important solution to reduce this pressure is the use of treated wastewater. The use of wastewater is becoming increasingly common on a global scale. Wastewater used irrigation, especially in agriculture and landscape areas. It can use some industrial activities such as cooling, washing, boiler feeding and fire extinguishing. Wastewater is generally used directly or by creating a wetland after physical pre-treatment. Changes in living standards have diversified wastewater contents. In recent years, domestic wastewater contains substances, which are extremely harmful to living health, that cannot be treated with physical processes, and require expensive and complex treatment techniques. Heavy metals, microorganisms and endocrine disruptors in wastewater pose serious health risks to life. In this study, biological risks in the use of wastewater in irrigation will be evaluated. In the study, the biological risks that the pathogenic microorganisms and endocrine disruptors contained in the wastewater may cause in irrigated areas and suggestions for their solution are given.
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