Assessing the net benefits of using wastewater treated with a membrane bioreactor for irrigating vegetables in Crete

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing the net benefits of using wastewater treated with a membrane bioreactor for irrigating vegetables in Crete

AU - Maton, Laure

AU - Psarras, Georgios

AU - Kasapakis, Giannis

AU - Lorenzen, Jesper Ravn

AU - Andersen, Martin

AU - Boesen, Mads Vejlby

AU - Bak, Søren Nøhr

AU - Chartzoulakis, Kostas

AU - Pedersen, Søren Marcus

AU - Kloppmann, Wolfram

PY - 2010/12/30

Y1 - 2010/12/30

N2 - The island of Crete (Greece) suffers from an increasingly severe water shortages, coupled with declining groundwater supplies. We compared the costs and benefits of alternative strategies for treating wastewater for use in irrigating vegetables: (1) using a membrane bioreactor (MBR), (2) connecting new residences to centralized wastewater-treatment plants, (3) building new wastewater-treatment plants, and (4) using natural wastewater-treatment systems in rural areas. We also examined the impact of increasing water scarcity on the net benefits of treating wastewater with an MBR. As expected, the value of treated wastewater increases with increasing water scarcity. The net benefit of treating wastewater with an MBR and using the reclaimed water to irrigate vegetables ranges from about 0.02€/m3 to 2€/m3 as water scarcity increases. Our results should be helpful in guiding analysts in Greece and other arid countries wishing to evaluate the financial viability of alternative methods of treating wastewater for use in agriculture.

AB - The island of Crete (Greece) suffers from an increasingly severe water shortages, coupled with declining groundwater supplies. We compared the costs and benefits of alternative strategies for treating wastewater for use in irrigating vegetables: (1) using a membrane bioreactor (MBR), (2) connecting new residences to centralized wastewater-treatment plants, (3) building new wastewater-treatment plants, and (4) using natural wastewater-treatment systems in rural areas. We also examined the impact of increasing water scarcity on the net benefits of treating wastewater with an MBR. As expected, the value of treated wastewater increases with increasing water scarcity. The net benefit of treating wastewater with an MBR and using the reclaimed water to irrigate vegetables ranges from about 0.02€/m3 to 2€/m3 as water scarcity increases. Our results should be helpful in guiding analysts in Greece and other arid countries wishing to evaluate the financial viability of alternative methods of treating wastewater for use in agriculture.

U2 - 10.1016/j.agwat.2010.10.016

DO - 10.1016/j.agwat.2010.10.016

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0378-3774

VL - 98

SP - 458

EP - 464

JO - Agricultural Water Management

JF - Agricultural Water Management

IS - 3

ER -