Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

Due to the lack of rainfall in North East Brazil the last few years, many social, ecnomic and public health problems have arisen. The use of raw or partially treated sewage for irrigation of vegetables or animal forage has become a common though unlawful practice. The water quality is not compatible with standards established by nacional or international organisms and hence the products are a menace to public health. In this paper the microbiological quality of pepper fruits, irrigated with treated waste water, is determined. Two varieties, Yollo-Wonder and Rubi Giant, were cultivated. Drip irrigation was applied using four types of water: (1) tap water, (2) effluent of a polishing pond treating digested sewage and filtered with a sand or (3) a cloth filter and (4) anaerobically digested sewage in UASB reactor and filtered with sand filter. The results were satisfactory: Salmonella were absent in all cases and though Faecal Coliforms were encountered their concentration was always less than 2,2/100 g of pepper. Thus the produced peppers can be consumed raw in accordance with the World Health Organization standards (WHO, 1989). It is concluded that the treated wastewater can be used in many activities, principally in agriculture practices.