THE REUSE OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER IN SOILS

The idea of wastewater application on soils, returned to Western Hemisphere during 1950-60. Modern living requires an increased per capita use of water for coverage of individual needs. Nowadays, two main principles related to water management seem to gain the attention of both the scientific communities and the stakeholders: 1. water saving in irrigation of agricultural crops without the reduction of food production, and 2. water saving during human use and industrial activity can only be promoted through water recycling. The increasing water demands at the level of Mediterranean countries are continuously intensified, because of the influence of a number of factors such as agricultural use and industrial consumption. The reuse of municipal wastewater in Mediterranean countries is now considered a useful practice. Countries such as Cyprus, Israel, Italy, Spain, France, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Greece, reuse the treated wastewater to a greater or a lesser extent in agriculture. There are several advantages and disadvantages in the proposed practice. However, existing technologies can help overcome such problems as for example the degradation and thus, the removal of pharmaceutical and xenobiotic compounds.