The Use of (Treated) Domestic Wastewater for Irrigation: Current Situation and Future Challenges

The use of treated, diluted, and even raw domestic wastewater for agricultural irrigation is becoming an essential component of a more sustainable and integrated water resources management, especially in water-scarce regions. More than 20 million hectares are currently being irrigated with wastewater worldwide by about 200 million farmers. This paper provides an overview of some developments in the field of water reuse in agriculture, with a specific focus on Latin America, where this practice is rapidly growing. It also summarizes the benefits and risks of (treated) wastewater irrigation and discusses some of its social, cultural, institutional, and political aspects. The paper also highlights a number of technical, social, environmental, and political challenges that deserve special attention and further research. The use of (treated) wastewater in agriculture has great potential but cannot be dealt with in isolation from local, regional, and global water and sanitation management systems.