The purpose of the graduation thesis was to take an overview of researches which deal with reuse of treated wastewater in urban vegetable food production. Since future climate change predictions are not encouraging, we must make an effort to protect our water sources and minimize the consumption of water in general. It is also predicted that world population will rise which may jeopardize an adequate food supply and cause a shortage of agricultural land. Urban food production and reuse of treated wastewater may be a partial solution. Irrigation with wastewater increases the amount of nutrients, which are usually added with fertilization, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, it is of utmost importance to use water that is microbiologically pure. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are poorly effective in removing micro-contaminants and pathogens, additional technologies such as depth, surface and membrane filtration, adsorption, ion exchange and advanced oxidation processes are needed (ozone, UV). In 2020, 159.3 million m3 (69%) of wastewater was treated in Slovenia, however, for now it is not used for irrigating agricultural land. The European Union with its programs funds a lot of projects, many of them are aiming at relieving natural resources and urban food production.
|