Webzine Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria®
Numero 14 - maggio 2002
http://www.pg.izs.it/webzine.html
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Agricultural use of untreated urban wastewater in low income countries
(June 24 -July 5, 2002)
Usage en agriculture des eaux usees non traitees dans les pays a faibles revenus
(24 Juin - 5 Juillet, 2002)
Uso agrícola de aguas residuales urbanas no tratadas en paises de bajos ingresos
(Junio 24 -Julio 5, 2002)
DISCUSSION PAPERS AND KEY ISSUES
Topic 1
Strategies to ensure proper management by the farmers of the health and environmental risks associated with the use of untreated wastewater. Discussion Paper Topic 1
Topic 1 Key Issues:
Is it meaningful to develop a typology for wastewater that is being used for urban and peri-urban agriculture? What categories of “untreated” urban wastewater should be distinguished?
Will the use of untreated wastewater in agriculture -in the country/city you report on- probably decrease or increase in the coming decade? Why?
What are the health and environmental effects (positive/negative) of using untreated, partially or unsuccessfully treated or diluted wastewater in agriculture that have been documented in your country/city?
Which categories of the population are mainly affected? Can we speak -in the cases you report on- of acceptable risks? Why yes or no?
What are the socio-economic costs and benefits of use of untreated wastewater in agriculture that have been documented in your country/city?
Who are the main beneficiaries? Do these costs/benefits justify local government support and investment? Why yes or no?
How effective are the local policies and regulations (national level, city level) regarding use of urban wastewater in agriculture?
What policy has proven to work and which not? Why? What are the main barriers for the development of more effective policies and regulations?
How effective are the local institutional mechanisms with respect to the design and implementation of strategies of wastewater use in agriculture?
What are the main shortcomings and obstacles?
How to improve?
What actors should be involved and in what role?
In your experience will local authorities be more amenable to formulating realistic regulations if costs and benefits were quantified?
What are the limitations and pre-conditions to the application of crop restriction as an effective instrument to reduce health risks of use of untreated wastewater in agriculture? What are the pros and cons? When to apply?
To what extent are farmer education and technical assistance effective instruments to reduce the health and environmental risks related to reuse of untreated wastewater? When yes, when no? What are the main issues that require attention?
Could economic incentives and/or farmer education provide an alternative to legal restrictions to promote adequate crop choice and wastewater management?
Is periodic monitoring of the quality of the irrigation water and/or the produce, in the areas irrigated with wastewater, a useful tool in helping to reduce the health and environmental risks? Are the present standards for irrigation water quality realistic?
What are the strategies for improvement recommended by the local farmers themselves?
What other strategies could be applied effectively? On what experiences is your recommendation based?
Topic 2
Strategies to ensure prevention and reduction of industrial contamination of domestic sewage and rivers that are used for irrigation. Discussion Paper Topic 2
Topic 2 Key Issues:
Will the industrial discharge of polluted wastewater to rivers and sewers increase or decrease during the next decade in the country/city you are reporting on? Why?
Have local authorities in the city you report on; the capacity to detect and monitor the sources of industrially polluted wastewater, its disposal, the concentration of hazardous chemicals in domestic sewage and the levels of contamination in rivers?
What can be done to improve this capacity?
What are the main barriers for industries to accept strategies to reduce the generation of hazardous wastes and to enhance the recycling of industrial waste water. What are –in your experience- the most effective strategies to overcome these barriers?
Is the provision of information and technical assistance (on waste minimization and recycling strategies and technologies) an effective instrument to reduce the discharge of hazardous wastes in rivers and sewers and to encourage waste reduction and waste reuse and recycling? Why yes or no? Under what circumstances?
To what extent does the creation and enforcement of regulations on the generation and discharge of hazardous wastes constitute an effective control and regulation instrument?
Why yes or no? What are important pre-conditions? How effective are the actual regulations and what limits their enforcement?
Is –in your experience- the provision of economic incentives an effective strategy to encourage waste reduction and waste reuse and recycling? Why yes or no? When to apply?
In what ways can the separate disposal of industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater be enforced? Under what conditions?
What are the strategies for improvement recommended by local industries themselves? What are the differences between “big” and “small” polluters?
What other strategies may be applied effectively? What are their pros and cons?
What can be the role and contributions of local NGO’s and farmer organizations?
Process of the Discussions
During the first week of the conference we will focus the discussions in both topics on the analysis of the actual situation and trends and the analysis of the effectivity of certain strategies.
During the second week of the conference we will continue that discussion but with more emphasis on the formulation of recommendations for policy development and action planning.
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