Agriculture Wastewater Treatment System

Wastewater created out of agricultural or farm activities is termed as agriculture wastewater. These wastewater can harm the environment in a significant way as the water is usually discharged into streams, rivers and lakes.

 

Agriculture wastewater however can be treated by using biological processes in which the activity of microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, plants and animals is involved. This approach is followed in various parts of the world.

 

The water treatment system consist of biodigester and aquatic plant channels. When the wastewater passes through the biodigester the pollutants and microorganism are transformed into biogas, aquatic plant biomass etc. The Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and suspended solids are reduced to a considerable level in this system.

 

Apart from this membrane bioreactor and tertiary filtration systems can also be used for treating wastewater. The product water is of good quality and can be used for crop irrigation. Irrigation with treated wastewater produces higher yields than crops irrigated with fresh water.

 

Source of Wastewater in Agriculture
There are basically two main sources of wastewater in agriculture. These are:

 

Non-point Source Pollution
It is caused by the surface run off from the fields especially in rainy season. In certain cases of wastewater in agriculture it is the only source of pollution.

 

Sediment Runoff
Soil in the water from agriculture is another source of pollution and cause of turbidity. Soil when mixed in water can lead to less growth of aquatic plants. Also because of this the fish gills get clog leading to the decrease in aquatic life. Before actually practising the agricultural wastewater treatment system another methods can be used. These can be contour plowing, crop mulching, crop rotation, planting perennial crops and installing riparian buffers.

 

Nutrients Runoff
Many chemicals and fertilizers are added to the soil as these are applied on the crops. These chemicals especially the nitrogen and phosphorous when get mixed in water leads to the pollution.

 

Agricultural Wastewater Treatment System
The water that is getting polluted by the solid manure heap can be treated in the first shot by covering or by putting the heap in container. Then it can also be used in bio gas handling plant.

 

Agriculture water must also be treated for the animal slurries as if these happen to get mixed in drinking water can lead to serious health problems. These are treated by their containment in lagoons. Animal slurries can be mixed with straws and then composted at high temperatures for producing bacteriologically sterile manure that can be used to treat the soil.

 

Silage, a semi-fermented product is formed from fresh or wilted grass that is stored to be used a forage in winters. The production of silage also result in the yellow-brown liquid that is one of the strong pollutants polluting the agriculture water. This liquid contains sugar, alcohol, silage conditioner and short-chain organic acids. To prevent it, the silage liquid is used as a food for pigs. Also you can do its containment in a slurry lagoon and then spread it on the land.

 

Then there is a waste from dairy farming in agriculture leading to the de-oxygenation of water. Waste from the dairy farming is often done in admixture. In this it is mixed with human sewage in sewage treatment plant. Even the slaughtering waste from the agriculture is also treated in dairy farming water treatment style.

Tags:- Wastewater Treatment Plants For Agriculture

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