LIFE+ ReQpro A model to reclaim and reuse wastewater for quality crop production European Orientation Group Meeting The project: objectives and activities Reggio Emilia, 12-13 November 2015.
The re-use of effluent water for irrigation Over many years now Italy has considered the re-use of effluent water as a strategic measure for its land resources. The re-use of effluent water for irrigation requires adequate treatment capable of producing water complying with the strict quality standards and limits in force In Italy specific regulations have been issued governing re-use of effluent in the form of Ministerial Decree no. 185 of 12 June 2003 Regulations containing technical rules for the re-use of effluent water in implementation of Article 26 paragraph 2 of Legislative Decree no. 152 of 11 May 1999 (Official Gazette no. 169 of 23 July
Ministerial Decree 185 of 12 June 2003 The Decree lays down, for example, chemical-physical and microbiological parameters for the water quality standards in the case of re-use. The decree also requires the Regions to draw up a list of plants whose effluent complies with the limit values for re-use in order to encourage a more wide-spread adoption of the above practice. The Emilia-Romagna Region had identified 24 plants (2 million a.e., 90,000 hectares), including the Mancasale plant (Reggio Emilia)
Experiences of wastewater reuse for agricultural and industrial purposesin Italy
The treatment of wastewater An experiment with pilot plant carried out by Iren, Multiutility company based in Northern Italy, working in collaboration with CRPA, has been able to show the effect of a number of treatments on water samples taken from the Reggio Emilia Mancasale plant The trials have taken into consideration the majority of the parameters laid down by Ministerial Decree 185/2003 for use of the water in irrigation The treatments involved: sand filtering, ultra-filtration, ozone, UV light and H2O2 treatments
The treatment of wastewater The sand filtration, together with UV/H2O2 allowed lowering of solids in suspension and microbiological content ( e.g. Salmonella, total coliform bacteria, escherichia coli) The more critical chemical pollutants (e.g. tension-active products and mineral oils) are also lowered by physical treatment and UV/H2O2 The combination of the two treatments produced the best results in terms of cost/benefit ratio and thus applicability at a larger scale The possibility of punctiform pollution means it is still necessary to monitor the water treated over time
The treatment plant Rapid sand filtration + UV/H2O2 was chosen as the best combination for purification and disinfection since it meets costs and process flexibility needs. The real scale tertiary plant was built during the years 2013-2015 and strarted in September 2015. When fully operational the plant will treat approximately 40.000 m3/day with a unit cost estimated at 0,037 /m3
The LIFE + Project - Financed by the European Commission through LIFE+, the EU s financial instrument supporting environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the European Union - starting date December 2012 ending date February 2017 - coordinator: C.R.P.A. S.p.A. - Reggio Emilia - 3 associated beneficiaries - 2 co-financiers
The beneficiaries ü Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali (project leader) ü Iren Emilia ü Consorzio di bonifica dell Emilia Centrale ü Autorità di Bacino del Fiume Po
The co-financers ü Provincia di Reggio Emilia ü Iren Acqua Gas
The LIFE + Project ü The activities are developed in the province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy) ü the study area of the project: north of the city centre, between the Crostolo brook, the Rodano-Canalazzo Tassone brook and Argine canal
The catchment area
The catchment area
Objectives The overall objective of the project is: ü to contribute to the protection of water resources through efficient reclamation and reuse of wastewater for irrigation of agricultural land, substituting surface water and groundwater resources.
Objectives The specific objectives are: ü start up of the tertiary treatment and evaluate its efficiency and costs; ü test new irrigation management practices, including optimization of the irrigation wastewater applied; ü obtain indications on the best practices for wastewater reuse to support the implementation of the measures of the river basin management plan (RBMP) of the Po river; ü evaluate the environmental and economic effects; ü increase the awareness of farmers which will use treated wastewater.
Activities A. Procedures for plant start-up and definition of the catchment area B.1 Wastewater reclamation: tertiary (finishing) treatment B.2 Wastewater reuse: optimization of use and traceability C.1 Monitoring of the environmental impact C.2 Monitoring of the socio-economic impact D.1-5 Communication and dissemination Actions E. Networking
Action A Procedures for plant start-up and definition of the catchment area (IEM) Objectives: - To define the catchment area for the allocation of the treated wastewater to the farms for crops irrigation (2100 ha north of Reggio Emilia) - To set up the procedures for the start and proper functioning of the tratment plant (sand filtration + H2O2 e UV treatments). Results: report ont the carchment area, settlement of the agreement between IEM /treatment plant) and CBEC (reclamation Consortium for the water allocation) and the contingency plan
Action B.1 Wastewater reclamation: tertiary treatment (IEM) Objective: - Evaluate and optimize the functioning of the plant in order to allow the reuse of the effluent for crops irrigation (48 additional checks in addition to the analises forseen by the usual self-monitoring) Results: treatment plant properly finctioning with outcoming wastewater pursuant to the Ministerial Decree no. 185
Action B.2 Wastewater reuse: optimization of use and traceability (CBEC) Objective: - To organize a management and traceability system for the treated wastewater. This will allow to value the reuse for irrigation and to know in real time who is using the wastewater, for wich crops Results: implementation of the system on the catchment area as a whole
Action C.1 Monitoring of the environmental impact (CRPA) Objective: - To verify the environmental and agronomic effects due to the treated wastewater reuse in farms that produce horticultural crops, forage crops and grain crops for livestock feed and for the market 16 indicator plots distributed in 7 farms Results: N-P accumulation, salinization, faecal contaminaion, toxicity/mutagenicity
Samples and analysis 2014-10 samples of irrigation water/year; - 40 samples of soil/year; - 40 samples of crops/year; 2015 e 2016-30 samples of irrigation water/year; - 80 samples of soil/year; - 80 samples of crops/year; - 16 toxicity/mutagenicity tests on water samples (8 on incoming and 8 on outcoming wastewater (2015). Analises on water: nitrates, total N and P, conductivity, Escherichia coli Analises on soils: nitrates e P assimilable, conductivity Analises on crops at harvest: nitrates, Escherichia coli
Activity 2014-13 crops have been monitored distributed in 8 Farms - 6 samples of irrigation water, 39 of crops and the same of soils have been collected and analized Analises on water: nitrates, total N and P, conductivity, Escherichia coli Analises on soils: nitrates e P assimilable, conductivity Analises on crops at harvest: nitrates, Escherichia coli
Alcuni risultati in sintesi Water for irrigation 1. the chemical parameters are within the classes I and II of the Guidelines (Giardini) and the limits of the MD 185, 2. Escherichia coli is over the limit of the same MD. Biomasses the great part of the samples is within the limit of detecion of the analytical method (10 strains per g/fm) for Escherichia coli. Only some samples of hay and summer herbage make exception. Nitrates are under the limit of 3000 mg/kg dm in feeds and no presence has been detected in vegetable crops such as tomatoes, watermelon and cantaloupe. Soils - conductivity is less than 2 ms/cm, available Phosphorus in general high or very high, Nitrates: high in some soil samples on permanent grassland or lucerne, after soybean and mais, low after sugar beet and sorghum.
The pilot farms 2014-2015 A B C D E F G Gorini Valter SNC Leoncino Az. Agr. Del Guado Inselmini Felice Inselmini Giulio Saccani Luca Marcotti Angela
Farms and crops 2015 Azienda Sigla N.ro Coltura Gorini A 1 Permanent grassland flow irrigation A 2 Permanent grassland (seeded 2014) sprinkling irrigation Leoncino B 4 Maize Del Guado C 5 Maize after other crop C 6 Sorghum after other crop C 7 Lucerne third year
Farms and crops 2015 Azienda Sigla N.ro Coltura Felice Inselmini D 8 Lucerne third year sprinkling irrigation D 9 Lucerne third year flow irrigation D 10 Maize after other crop D 11 Maize Giulio Inselmini E 3 Maize after other crop Saccani F 12 Tomatoes sprinkling irrigation Marcotti agrit. G 13 Permanent grassland G 14 Lucerne G 15 Cantaloupe G 16 Water melon
Action C.2 Monitoring of the socio-economic impact (AdBPo) Objective: - Evaluate from the economic and social point of view the reclamation and reuse for irrigation purposes of the wastewater, according to the approaches as follows: a) cost/benefits analisys of the proposed model (in collaboration with the University of Bologna) b) assesment of the policy mechanisms to stimulate the application of the reuse (in colaboration with the University of Utrecht)
Actions D.1-D.5 Communication and dissemination (CRPA) D.1 Dissemination and demonstration Direct Actions (8 demo-days, 6 information days for students, 1 course for technicians, 1 final conference) Indirect Actions (1 leaflet, 6 articles, 8 newsletters) D.2 Website D.3 Infoboards LIFE+ D.4 Layman s report
LIFE+ ReQpro A model to reclaim and reuse wastewater for quality crop production European Orientation Group Meeting Reggio Emilia, 12-13 November 2015.