Can Treated Sewage Water Be Used For Irrigation?

In today’s increasingly eco-friendly world, it’s important to look for every single advantage you can use to cut down on the way that you use resources. This includes the way that we use water. Irrigating gardens and farms is a resource-intensive process, so read on to find out whether or not you can use treated sewage to irrigate your garden and how it will change the way that you look after your property’s plants.

What is irrigation?

Irrigation is the process of supplying crops and land with water. It is primarily done in areas that don’t receive enough rainfall to support the plants in question, so the landowner needs to intervene in order to make sure the plant life in the area is able to grow back to where it needs to be. This is primarily done by digging channels in between rows in plants, allowing for water to flow to the roots of the plants in question and supporting the long term growth and survival of the plants. Plantlife is not only protected but is cradled and harboured by the use of effective irrigation.

Sewage Water

Can treated sewage water be used for irrigation?

Wastewater in the form of treated sewage from wastewater treatment plants can be used for irrigation purposes, and in many cases is already being used for this purpose. By pumping wastewater from nearby water sources, over 200 million farmers around the world are using treated sewage in order to improve the growth of their crops. This method is deemed perfectly safe by governments, as sewage treatment facilities are extremely thorough when dealing with waste.

What are the benefits?

One of the key benefits is the fact that far less freshwater is needed throughout the process. As wastewater produces crops of the same high standards in comparison to freshwater, there is no obvious downside to using wastewater. Advantages come in the form of lower costs to the farmer, as they need to pump less water directly from the mains and lower costs to the environment, as no extra water is wasted when attempting to get crops to develop.

Are there any risks?

Assuming that every step of the process is functioning as it should, there are no risks to using wastewater for irrigation purposes. The wastewater is clean and is only being used to facilitate the growth of crops that go unaffected by poor water quality. Issues may arise in the case that aerated wastewater treatment systems fail, however in this case the wastewater pipes shut down and farms revert to using freshwater. There are fail-safes throughout the system, and consumers face no risks through the use of treated sewage water in the irrigation process.

Get started

If you need the finest septic tanks Banella, Seymour, Mansfield and the surrounding areas can rely on for your irrigation, get in touch with the C & S Plumbing team for the highest quality EcoSeptic septic tanks today. We offer high-quality installation services for EcoSeptic products and can answer any questions you might have about using treated sewage for irrigation. Contact our suppliers EcoSeptic today to find out more.

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