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

Laure Maton; Georgios  Psarras; Giannis Kasapakis; Jesper Ravn Lorenzen; Martin  Andersen; Mads Vejlby Boesen; Søren Nøhr Bak; Kostas  Chartzoulakis; Søren Marcus Pedersen; Wolfram Kloppmann

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2010.10.016

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

Laure Maton, Georgios Psarras, Giannis Kasapakis, Jesper Ravn Lorenzen, Martin Andersen, Mads Vejlby Boesen, Søren Nøhr Bak, Kostas Chartzoulakis, Søren Marcus Pedersen, Wolfram Kloppmann

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Journal	Agricultural Water Management
Volume	98
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	458-464
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0378-3774
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2010.10.016
Publication status	Published - 30 Dec 2010

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

abstract = "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.",

author = "Laure Maton and Georgios Psarras and Giannis Kasapakis and Lorenzen, {Jesper Ravn} and Martin Andersen and Boesen, {Mads Vejlby} and Bak, {S{\o}ren N{\o}hr} and Kostas Chartzoulakis and Pedersen, {S{\o}ren Marcus} and Wolfram Kloppmann",

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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 -

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

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