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Water sustainability involves several natural and human spheres conditioning the availability and quality of water resources and life conservation. Regarding water quality, currently emerging pollutants (EPs) are a key topic at global scale since they are difficult to remove by traditional water treatment systems. In this context, this work aims to evaluate experts' perception of several EPs issues with a special focus on semi-arid Mediterranean areas where EPs are negatively impacting water, environmental, and agricultural systems as, in these areas, effluents from water treatment plants are widely reused in the irrigation of crops, urban gardens, and golf courses or directly discharged on natural streams. Particularly, a detailed survey composed of questions about EPs regulation, risk insight, equipment, social and economic impacts, was performed collecting 437 responses. Main results suggested that EPs existence may pose a significant risk and a destabilizing factor in wastewater reuse, with negative impacts to crop irrigation, being managers the class with more concern followed by scientifics and administratives. New EPs regulations raises uncertainty amongst experts since 29 % considered positive its creation, while 20 % estimated this fact as regular and 14 % as negative. As well, although the combination of technologies to improve EPs removal generated agreement, aspects like the treatment charges at water treatment plants or the price/bill of EPs-free water were features of ambiguity. Within EPs elimination, the three expert groups highlighted that technologies impacts in the sustainability spheres will be positive on public health (87 % of responses), social trust (75 %), and environmental sustainability (76 %). Likewise, 88 % of experts concurred that the future of wastewater reuse relies on a combination of technologies. These findings offer valuable information to water legislators and policymakers to manage water resources, especially in semi-arid areas due to the final use of treated effluents and, therefore, the great implications for agriculture, environment and human health. • Emerging pollutants knowledge was surveyed by collecting responses from 437 experts. • Experts' heterogeneity attending their job position generated significant differences. • Most experts found technologies combination suitable to surge pollutant removal, although the water bill rise generated disagreement. • Positive impacts on the sustainability spheres were reached by treatment technologies. • To most experts, these pollutants are destabilising factors for reusing wastewater in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in irrigated crop areas, especially in countries such as Spain and Italy, has led to an increase in technological solutions for monitoring the irrigation. Furthermore, the centre pivot irrigation systems used in these crops have facilitated the daily work of farmers in recent years, however, the monitoring of these systems and the reporting of problems in their operation has become a key aspect during the growing season. For this reason, different monitoring solutions have been proposed from the area of Precision Agriculture and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Nevertheless, it is necessary that these solutions take into account the digital divide their potential users may suffer and be low-cost solutions in order to be attractive to the end-users. This paper presents several low-cost solutions using novel user interfaces and wireless communication technologies for the monitoring of this type of irrigation systems. This paper presents the results obtained after the deployment of the proposed systems on a real environment and the main conclusions drawn after their use in irrigated maize crops. • LoRaWAN and GPS allow affordable monitoring systems for centre pivot irrigation. • Chatbots and voice assistants help to avoid the digital divide. • Edge Computing Devices and LPWANs enable new AMR solutions for water meters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discharging temperature of large reservoirs with high water head has great influence to the agricultural irrigation and river water ecological environment. Analyzing the vertical distribution law of water temperature and the influence of stratified water intake to the discharging temperature can provide scientific basis for the design and regulation of reservoirs. Taking Qianping Reservoir as a research object, the water temperature calculation model was set up by the DELFT3D FLOW software. The model was used to analyze the discharged water temperature of the high-head and large reservoir in two different ways, stratified water intake and single layer water intake. The calculation model selected the ocean temperature model and collected the mean multi-year data of the surrounding weather stations as the background data. Hydrological data from four typical years in the Qianping Reservoir, ie, high flow year, normal flow year, low flow year, and especially low flow year were used as initial conditions. The upstream water inflow and downstream water intake were selected as boundary conditions. The analysis results show that the temperature of discharged water and natural water are close when adopting the stratified water intake solution, which can meet the needs of crop irrigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Wastewater is an important resource in water-scarce regions of the world, and its use in agriculture requires the guarantee of acceptable public health risks. The use of fecal indicator bacteria to evaluate safety does not represent viruses, the main potential health hazards. Viral pathogens could complement the use of fecal indicator bacteria in the evaluation of water quality. In this study, we characterized the concentration and removal of human adenovirus (HAdV) and norovirus genogroup II (NoV GII), highly abundant and important viral pathogens found in wastewater, in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that use different tertiary treatments (constructed wetland vs conventional UV, chlorination and Actiflo® treatments) for a year in Catalonia. The main objective of this study was to develop a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for viral gastroenteritis caused by norovirus GII and adenovirus, associated with the ingestion of lettuce irrigated with tertiary effluents from these WWTPs. The results show that the disease burden of NoV GII and HAdV for the consumption of lettuce irrigated with tertiary effluent from either WWTP was higher than the WHO recommendation of 10−6 DALYs for both viruses. The WWTP with constructed wetland showed a higher viral reduction on average (3.9 and 2.8 logs for NoV GII and HAdV, respectively) than conventional treatment (1.9 and 2.5 logs) but a higher variability than the conventional WWTP. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the input parameters used to estimate the viral reduction by treatment and viral concentrations accounted for much of the model output variability. The estimated reductions required to reach the WHO recommended levels in tertiary effluent are influenced by the characteristics of the treatments developed in the WWTPs, and additional average reductions are necessary (in WWTP with a constructed wetland: A total of 6.7 and 5.1 logs for NoV GII and HAdV, respectively; and in the more conventional treatment: 7 and 5.6 logs). This recommendation would be achieved with an average quantification of 0.5 genome copies per 100 mL in reclaimed water for both viruses. The results suggest that the analyzed reclaimed water would require additional treatments to achieve acceptable risk in the irrigation of vegetables with reclaimed water. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Quantitative microbial risk assessment of norovirus and adenovirus. • Health risk associated with the ingestion of lettuce irrigated with reclaimed water. • Constructed wetland vs conventional UV, chlorination and Actiflo® treatments. • Reductions required to reach the WHO recommended levels in tertiary effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of metals in cyanobloom-forming lakes, and potential risks of these metals during irrigation with water derived from the bloom were evaluated in this study. Seven metals were monitored throughout a cyanobacterial bloom season in Lake Taihu. Cyanobloom bio-dilution of the targeted metals could be explained by the negative relationships between total phytoplankton metal contents (Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb and Cr) and Chl a concentrations ( p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the ratios of extracellular bound to total cellular bound metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr and Cd) were positively correlated with the ratios of cyanophyta to total phytoplankton ( p < 0.01), indicating the enhanced extracellular bound of these metals during cyanobloom period. Secondly, Cd, Pb and Cr were detected in several local vegetables. In comparison to reference vegetables, vegetables ( e.g. , radish, soybean, and cowpea), which were irrigated with cyanobloom broth collected from Lake Taihu, presented high health risk index (HRI) and were not safe for human consumption. Collectively, the frequent dominant colonial Microcystis blooms which performed high metal affinity might mediate the distribution of heavy metals in lake and potentially transferred these pollutants into terrestrial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater is a valuable resource for water-scarce regions, and is becoming increasingly important due to the rising frequency of droughts as a result of climate change. The health risks derived from ingestion of lettuce that has been irrigated with effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Catalonia (Spain) were estimated following a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) approach using site-specific data. Norovirus (NoV) was selected for this analysis, since it is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in Catalonia. Two scenarios, irrigation with secondary and with tertiary effluent, were analysed. An uncertainty analysis was conducted to determine the impact of possible internalization of NoV into edible parts of the lettuce. The mean disease burden for ingestion of lettuce irrigated with secondary and tertiary effluent was 7.8 × 10 − 4 Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) per person per year (pppy) and 3.9 × 10 − 4 DALYs pppy, respectively. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the model parameters with higher influence on the probability of disease are the concentration of NoV in the effluent and the consumption of lettuce. In order to decrease the disease burden to the guidance level of 10 − 6 DALYs pppy, the tertiary treatment should be able to achieve a 4.3 log reduction of the concentration of NoV. If internalization of NoV into lettuces occurs, this would require a reduction of 7.6 log. This is the first time that site specific data and virus internalization in crops are incorporated in a QMRA of irrigation of lettuce and its impact is quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of water quality-fresh water (FW), mixed water (MIX), and treated wastewater (TWW)–and number of harvests–three (H3), two (H2), and one (H1)–during the season on biomass yield and essential oil quantity and quality of lemon verbena(Aloysia triphylla) were studied. The production variables (fresh, air-dry, oven-dry weight, and dry matter percent) of lemon verbena biomass were affected by the harvesting times but not by the water types. Dry matter percent was the highest (50.57 %) and the lowest (30.07 %) with the treatments combinations of FWH2 and TWWH3, respectively. The mean essential oil yield varied from 9.04 Lha−1 (TWWH2) to 3.47 Lha−1 (MIXH1). The Pb concentrations in essential oil were low (0.001 gm L−1) in all treatment combinations. The highest mean concentration of Ni in the essential oil of lemon verbena (0.573 mgL−1) was obtained with the treatment combination TWWH3 and the lowest (0.186 mgL−1) with FWH3. The highest mean Cd concentration (0.177 mgL−1) was found in the treatments of TWWH3 and the lowest (0.128 mgL−1) in FWH2. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Passive uptake of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and its relationship with physicochemical properties, such as lipophilicity (LogKow), ionization behavior (pKa), distribution coefficient (LogDow) and transpiration rate are scarcely studied. In the current study, hydroponically grown corn (Zea mays) was exposed to carbamazepine (CBZ), fluoxetine (FLX), gemfibrozil (GBZ), triclosan (TRI) and atrazine (ATZ)) at environmentally relevant concentrations (20 μg/L each one). Plant tissue concentrations of CECs were determined several times over 21 days. Eighteen plants were used, nine exposed to the CECs and nine untreated. Whole plants were harvested at 7, 14 and 21 days and separated into roots, stem, leaf and male bud flower (only at 21 days). Hydroponic solution was maintained at pH 5.5 throughout the study. CECs concentrations in the exposure solution and tissues were determined by LC-MS/MS. ATZ metabolites desisopropylatrazine (DIA) and desethylatrazine (DEA) were determined by LC-DAD. In shoot tissues, CBZ, FLX and ATZ were detected, while TRI and GBZ were detected only in roots. Root concentrations were related with LogKow (R2 ROOT = 0.415). Leaf and stem concentrations of CBZ, FLX and ATZ were linked with LogKow and strongly linked with pKa. Transpiration was related with CBZ and ATZ in shoot, but not related with FLX shoot levels. Neutral compounds such as CBZ (pKa = 13.94; 100% neutral) and ATZ (pKa = 1.6; 85% neutral) were taken up passively with transpiration. Root accumulation was related with CECs lipophilicity, while translocation and bioaccumulation in shoot were not only related with lipophilicity, but also with CECs ionization behavior and transpiration. [Display omitted] • Triclosan and gemfibrozil were accumulated mainly in roots. • Carbamazepine, fluoxetine and atrazine were translocated from roots to shoot. • Carbamazepine and atrazine uptake and translocation were explained by lipophilicity, ionization and transpiration. • Fluoxetine uptake and translocation were explained by the lipophilicity. • Atrazine was biodegraded to DIA in leaf and stem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive uptake of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and its relationship with physicochemical properties, such as lipophilicity (LogKow), ionization behavior (pKa), distribution coefficient (LogDow) and transpiration rate are scarcely studied. In the current study, hydroponically grown corn (Zea mays) was exposed to carbamazepine (CBZ), fluoxetine (FLX), gemfibrozil (GBZ), triclosan (TRI) and atrazine (ATZ)) at environmentally relevant concentrations (20 μg/L each one). Plant tissue concentrations of CECs were determined several times over 21 days. Eighteen plants were used, nine exposed to the CECs and nine untreated. Whole plants were harvested at 7, 14 and 21 days and separated into roots, stem, leaf and male bud flower (only at 21 days). Hydroponic solution was maintained at pH 5.5 throughout the study. CECs concentrations in the exposure solution and tissues were determined by LC-MS/MS. ATZ metabolites desisopropylatrazine (DIA) and desethylatrazine (DEA) were determined by LC-DAD. In shoot tissues, CBZ, FLX and ATZ were detected, while TRI and GBZ were detected only in roots. Root concentrations were related with LogKow (R2 ROOT = 0.415). Leaf and stem concentrations of CBZ, FLX and ATZ were linked with LogKow and strongly linked with pKa. Transpiration was related with CBZ and ATZ in shoot, but not related with FLX shoot levels. Neutral compounds such as CBZ (pKa = 13.94; 100% neutral) and ATZ (pKa = 1.6; 85% neutral) were taken up passively with transpiration. Root accumulation was related with CECs lipophilicity, while translocation and bioaccumulation in shoot were not only related with lipophilicity, but also with CECs ionization behavior and transpiration. [Display omitted] • Triclosan and gemfibrozil were accumulated mainly in roots. • Carbamazepine, fluoxetine and atrazine were translocated from roots to shoot. • Carbamazepine and atrazine uptake and translocation were explained by lipophilicity, ionization and transpiration. • Fluoxetine uptake and translocation were explained by the lipophilicity. • Atrazine was biodegraded to DIA in leaf and stem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• NC-RUS technique enables plant water status assessment on citrus in the field. • Resonant frequency, velocity and Q-factor were evaluated as water stress indicators. • Signal intensity and sensitivity performance of Q-factor was similar to Ψ leaf at midday. • A strong linear correlation was found between Q-factor and Ψ leaf (R2=0.57). Non-Contact Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (NC-RUS) has emerged as a powerful tool to determine plant water status in a non-destructive, non-invasive and rapid way. In this study, ultrasonic parameters directly obtained from experimental measurements in the field using NC-RUS - such as resonant frequency (f res), velocity (v) and Q-factor - were evaluated as potential water stress indicators in Citrus plants. The experiments were carried out in two-year-old mandarin trees (Citrus clementina Hort. ex Tan. 'Clemenules') grown in pots in an open greenhouse where two different groups of plants were tested: a Control group (full irrigation) and a Drought Stress group (DS) whose irrigation was withdrawn during 7 days, followed by a 16 days recovery period. Soil water content, leaf water potential (Ψ leaf) and the considered ultrasonic parameters were measured in the same leaves. f res detected changes between control and DS at day 7 without irrigation. Conversely, v showed differences after day 3, which were statistically significant at day 7, enabling discrimination between C and DS groups. Hence, Q-factor was the ultrasonic parameter that showed statistically significant differences between C and DS groups at days 3 and 7. Consequently, Signal Intensity in Q during the drought treatment showed a similar evolution to Ψ leaf , although with slightly lower performance. However, Q-factor sensitivity excels Ψ leaf at each day studied. Finally, a linear correlation (R2=0.57) between Ψ leaf and Q-factor of all experimental data measured in DS group plants along the drought treatment was found. In conclusion, the ultrasonic parameters obtained using NC-RUS and in particular the Q-factor, demonstrated to be potential new water stress indicators in Citrus trees, with the novelty of being non-destructive, non-invasive and rapid. Future work should explore its suitability for its use in irrigation scheduling for Citrus trees. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-arid regions often face severe drought events that reduce agricultural and livestock production. In recent years, some international studies have used multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) approaches combined with geographic information systems (GIS-MCDA) to support decision-makers in assessing the suitability of agricultural land for irrigation in semi-arid regions. Unlike previous studies, which have only considered a single source of water for crop irrigation, this study proposes a GIS-MCDA approach that considers all potentially available local water sources (e.g., groundwater, surface water, and wastewater) as possible alternatives for better multisource water resource management (MWRM) in regions facing water shortages. The geospatial multicriteria evaluation implemented in this study considers a series of technical, environmental, and agricultural productivity criteria using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. Three independent baseline maps were generated, showing the spatial distribution of suitable areas for crop irrigation for each considered water source in the studied area. Surface water, groundwater, and wastewater offered suitable crop irrigation for 83%, 70%, and 26% of the study area, respectively. Overlapping these areas produced a final map showing all the feasible areas for each crop irrigation alternative at the same time. The MWRM approach considering all water sources increased the coverage of suitable areas to be irrigated in the study area by 2.2%, 20.4%, and more than 225% compared to considering surface water, groundwater, and wastewater, respectively, independently. The GIS-MCDA framework proposed in this study provides better support for decision-makers and stakeholders, favouring a reduction in possible conflicts over water scarcity, the diversification of irrigated crops, and an improvement in the quality-quantitative management of water resources in semi-arid regions. • A GIS-MCDA approach to assess the suitability of agricultural lands for irrigation. • Three sources of water were considered in the approach for better water management. • Analysis of combined water resources increased the resulting areas suitable for irrigation. • The proposed analytical approach provides better support for irrigation in semi-arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brewery effluent (BE) can be used as a water and nutrient source for crop irrigation. It contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are essential plant nutrients. However, the effluent at Ibhayi Brewery (SAB Ltd) has a high concentration of sodium, which is a constraint for its reuse in agriculture. The objectives here were to determine the salt removal efficiency, crop growth and health and changes in soil structure when four salt-tolerant test crops were irrigated with BE and subjected to crop rotation or soil amendments. These crops included Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris), saltbush (Atriplex nummularia), Salicornia meyeriana and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and all grew efficiently in BE irrigated soils but did not stop sodium accumulation in the growth medium. Nitrogen was successfully exploited, while phosphorus availability was limited by an unfavourable pH. Swiss chard had the best growth with a wet biomass production of 8173 g m-2 , due to the plant's ability to tolerate saline conditions and continuous cropping. Crop rotation, aiming to limit the effects of nutrient depletion in soil, had no significant effect on plant growth, suggesting that the soils were provided enough micro-nutrients in the short term. Prolonged irrigation with BE can lead to sodium accumulation in the soil, which was successfully ameliorated through addition of soil amendments (gypsum and Trichoderma). These amendments reduced soil sodium from a potentially yield limiting level of 1398 mg L-1 to the acceptable levels of 240 mg L-1 and 353 mg L-1, respectively, mainly through leaching. However, only the addition of Trichoderma improved Swiss chard production to 11,238 g m-2, while reducing soil surface crusting and improving infiltration rates. Soil amended with Trichoderma appears to be a potential solution for BE reuse as a water and nutrient source in agriculture. • Brewery effluent is a suitable water and nutrient source for salt tolerant plants such as Swiss chard. • Swiss chard can take up soil sodium. • Trichoderma can reduce sodium buildup in the soil. • Trichoderma improves soil properties such as infiltration rate and compaction, improving crop growth in the short term. • soil amended with Trichoderma appears to be a potential solution when brewery effluent is reused in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This manuscript provides a planning tool for reclaimed water use in agriculture to alleviate pressure on freshwater sources. • A GIS-MCDA framework was developed to produce the agricultural land suitability maps for irrigation with reclaimed water. • Multiple qualitative and quantitative decision criteria were included in the developed GIS-MCDA. • The developed decision framework was tested at a large scale (State of California) with multiple crop patterns. • Proximity to reclaimed water source and crop type were the most influential criteria for irrigation with reclaimed water. Water scarcity, climate variability and continuing growth in water demand have put severe pressure on high‐quality freshwater sources. This challenge exacts the necessity to explore alternative water sources for agricultural irrigation. The objective of this study was to implement the integrated geospatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the potentiality of reclaimed water use for agricultural irrigation in California. Five evaluation criteria included in this study were agricultural land (crop type), climate conditions, water policies, irrigation status, and proximity to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) respectively. The suitability maps for reclaimed water use were generated for three cases in terms of accessibility to WWTPs, their discharge volume and appropriate treatment processes respectively. In addition, a composite suitability map was produced using the hybrid model considering all three cases together. Results from this study led to a better understanding of sustainable reclaimed water use for crop irrigation at a regional level. It provided supporting evidence of the applicability of the GIS-MCDA method integrated with AHP technique for a larger geographical scale with a diverse crop pattern. This study established the importance of using both knowledge-based and data-driven criteria and sub-criteria in the decision framework. The results also highlighted how the spatial distribution of suitable areas for reclaimed water reuse is closely linked to the agricultural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical objective for any wastewater reuse program is to close the gap between supply of and demand for water and to minimize health and environmental hazards. Thus, the effects of treated effluent on crops, soils and community health must be considered carefully. When applying wastewater to soil-plant systems, it is to be noted that the passage of water through the soil reduces considerably the number of microorganisms carried out by the reclaimed wastewater. Nevertheless, there is a need to study the real rate of organism decay subject to water quality, soil and vegetable characteristics, and irrigation method. The aim of this work is to determine the fate of the fecal coliforms, coliphages F+ and CN13, and helminth eggs survival during the application of reclaimed wastewater in a vineyard orchard near the Cityof Arad (Israel) via on surface and subsurface drip irrigation systems. Wastewater obtained from a stabilization pond, and soil samples were tested and an important decrease of microorganisms was reached inboth cases, with the better values obtained with the sub-surface drip irrigation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]