Municipal Wastewater in Agriculture covers the proceedings of the 1980 International Conference on the Status of Knowledge, Critical Research Needs, and Potential Research Facilities Relating to the Cooperative Research Needs for Renovation and Reuse of Municipal Wastewater in Agriculture, held in Cocoyoc, Morelos, Mexico. Primary participated by Mexico and United States, both have large area with water shortages, the conference focuses on renovation and reuse of wastewater by agricultural irrigation, along with construction designs, operational guidelines, and data for these systems. Organized into six parts encompassing 20 chapters, the book covers the nature, distribution, and fate of viruses, bacteria, and pathogenic organisms, as well as organic and inorganic contamination of municipal water systems. Parts I and II tackle the administrative and legal aspects of wastewater renovation and reuse and reuse alternatives for municipal wastewater. Parts III and V discuss the efforts of Mexico and United States in land treatment and in water quality system, along with design and cost criteria for land treatment systems. Part IV examines pathogen and heavy metal contaminants in municipal wastewater. Finally, research needs related to municipal wastewater renovation and reuse in arid and semiarid areas and in domestic wastewater are discussed in the concluding section. The book aims to assist in the assessment of land treatment system capacity for wastewater renovation for various types of reuse.

Prepared by the Task Committee on Land Application of Sludge of the Committee on Water Pollution Management of the Environmental Engineering Division of ASCE. This report presents research on the land application of wastewater sludge, especially quantitative and qualitative aspects of soil-sludge interaction. Each year, approximately 6.2 million dry metric tons of wastewater sludge are produced by municipal wastewater treatment facilities in the United States. The annual sludge production is expected to reach 12 million dry metric tons by the year 2000. Sludge use and disposal options include incineration, ocean disposal, marketing of processed sludge, landfilling, and land application. Land application of sludge is achieved by spreading the sludge over the ground surface or incorporating it within the topsoil by injection, disking, or plowing. Sludge is applied to agricultural and forest lands for its nutrient value and to disturbed areas for soil amendment and reclamation purposes. At present, land application is the logical alternative because of its environmental and economic advantages over the other methods. Topics include: mechanisms for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, the role of trace elements, hydrologic effects of soil-sludge interaction, use of municipal sludge to reclaim mined land, and health effects. The report concludes with recommendations for future research.