Wastewater
reuse has become essential due to various reasons such as the depleting
surface water, low rainfall, over exploited groundwater and environmental
degradation caused due to disposing wastewater to natural waterways.
Groundwater
is the most dominant water resource in Australia and is heavily utilized
for irrigation. Because of the immense pressure on groundwater for
irrigation alternate sources have to be identified. The use of treated
municipal wastewater for irrigation can be an important component
of integrated water resource management in arid regions and in dry
season.
Noraisha Oyama & Dr Jaya Nair monitoring plant
growth in both wastewater and control water
Water
recycling is one of the aspect of sustainable water management practices
and reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation is the
largest reuse category. As there is tremendous loss of water through
spray irrigation and even in drip irrigation the ideal way to conserve
water and produce crops in arid region is through aquaponics. The
method of horticulture through aquaponics uses aqueous nutrient medium
for growing plants in a confined space.
Noraisha Oyama setting up the air compressor & monitoring
equipment for her aquaponics experiment
Application
of treated wastewater for aquaponics will help in stripping off the
nutrients from wastewater, better reuse of wastewater through reduced
evaporation losses, more control on quality of water and reduced
risk of pathogen contamination as the stems and leaves of plants
have no contact with wastewater.
Research
to look at the possibility of wastewater treatment and reuse through
aquaponics is in progress at Environmental Technology Centre by Noraisha
Oyama under the supervision of Dr Jaya Nair.
