Water Science & Technology—WST Vol 57 No 8 pp 1213–1219 © IWA Publishing 2008 doi:10.2166/wst.2008.244
Wastewater irrigation of salad crops: further evidence for the evaluation of the WHO guidelines
R. K. X. Bastos, P. D. Bevilacqua, C. A. B. Silva and C. V. Silva
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Engenharia Civil., 36570-000, Viçosa-MG, Brasil E-mail: rkxb@ufv.br
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, . 36570-000, Viçosa-MG, Brasil E-mail: paula@ufv.br
Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Serviço de Tratamento de Água, . 36570-000, Viçosa-MG, Brasil E-mail: sta@ufv.br
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of an experiment on salad crop irrigation with waste stabilisation pond effluents, conducted in Southeast Brazil. Over about 18 months several trials were carried out using different effluent qualities to irrigate lettuce, kale, arugula, spinach, and green pepper. Equations for predicting the bacterial quality of irrigated crops (E.coli per gram) based on the irrigation water quality (E.coli per 100 mL) were derived for low and high growing crops. The quantitative microbial risk analysis (QMRA) technique, using pathogen-ingestion scenarios based on these field data and on official statistics of vegetables consumption in Brazil, was used to estimate infection risks arising from the consumption of wastewater irrigated crops. It is inferred that irrigation with effluents complying with the WHO guidelines for unrestricted irrigation should result in salad crops acceptable for consumption.
Keywords: Salad crops; wastewater irrigation; WHO guidelines
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