Groundwater Problems Caused By Irrigation with Sewage Effluent

Abstract

Sewage effluent water is consistently used for the agricultural irrigation in rural and urban region farms. The spread of the potential infectious diseases is the major concern for farm workers and also for city inhabitant when they get exposed to these effluents. They also will affect those people consuming crops developed using effluent water irrigation system, particularly when the farm produce is consumed raw by people or otherwise, the farm yield is brought in that raw condition into the kitchen. Only way of preventing is by making adequate measures to disinfect the effluent. Moreover, the effluent water must meet all the conditions of usual irrigation water parameter needs such as trace elements, sodium adsorption ratio, salt content, and so on. Regrettably, no proper interest taken and awareness paid to curtail sewage irrigation long-term effects on principal groundwater.

The irrigation water is mostly applied during the dry climatic conditions that evaporates quickly. Whereas, the non-biodegradable chemical concentration of the drained water and deep-percolated water goes down to join the groundwater, which may remain at a higher level than the effluent water itself. There are various chemicals included in such effluent water, comprising of various salts, potential pesticide residues, nitrates, and they are usually expected in the farming and irrigated farming. However, the chemicals in the sewage, such as pharmaceuticals, organic, synthetic compounds, by-products of disinfection, and pharmaceutical active endocrine disruptor, chemicals, Fumic acids are mainly known to  be the main disinfection precursor by-products. They are formed as soon as the drainage water joins the drinking-water, which gets chlorinated subsequently. Therefore, the groundwater right under the sewage-irrigated regions finally can become completely unfit for human consumption and drinking. The is the main issue that is raising questions of its accountability and burden, when the sewage water irrigated, joins the groundwater.