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Large Scale WWTP Effluent Reuse

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  052030,  2005 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.18898) @2005
Authors:   Marcus N. Allhands
Keywords:   Water Reuse, Wastewater Reuse, Wastewater Disposal, Filtration, Automatic Filters

One of the elements that made America grow so strong so rapidly was the abundance of natural resources of which water was chief. This was true for the last few hundred years but now the supply of this precious resource is being strained. Population growth, land development and industrial expansion are utilizing this natural resource faster than nature can replenish it in many areas of the country. This mining mode has set the stage for the reuse of domestic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent for irrigation water for landscape, athletic turf, agricultural crops and even residential lawns. Nowhere is this seen more prominent than in the West and Southeast areas of the United States. For over seven years Sonoma County Water Agency in Sonoma, California has been delivering filtered WWTP effluent stored in large reservoirs to the Irrigation District Delivery System for use in drip irrigation of large acreages of specialty wine grapes. The effectiveness this agency has experienced of automatic self-cleaning screen filters on a large scale has led them to standardize on this technology. This paper will describe the filtration and irrigation systems associated with this reuse application and fully explain the technologies involved in treating and conveying WWTP effluent.

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