How Much Wastewater Is Used on Farms?

The use of wastewater on farmland is at least 50% more prevalent than previously thought, according to a new study. Published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the report provides the first quantified analysis of the extent to which farmland is fed by wastewater (both treated and untreated). The results show that there are 35.9 million hectares of crops which are watered by urban wastewater, with over four-fifths of this area residing in regions with inadequate wastewater treatment facilities.

The study also found that this practice was far more widespread in the developing world and could be largely localised to just five countries.

Contamination by necessity

The population of planet Earth is continually increasing. With the vast majority of people living in towns and cities, it only makes sense that these urban centres continue to grow and swell in size, and the consumption of water necessarily swells with them. However, wastewater treatment systems rarely develop at the same rate as populations grow, meaning that larger and larger quantities of wastewater are released downstream without the appropriate treatment. Despite the multitude of pluses and benefits of using water sensors to determine water quality, they are still uncommon in large […]

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