Although water recycling has been practiced successfully in Hawaii for over 70 years, the fate of
constituents applied over unconfined aquifers has been questioned. Water recycling through
irrigation has demonstrated the multiple benefits of wastewater reuse including a reduction of the
demand on potable aquifer sources and the beneficial reuse of water and nutrients. The preferred
reuse method under study on Oahu is irrigation, because current and past water recycling
projects utilize reclaimed water on golf courses and agricultural land. The Honolulu Board of
Water Supply (HBWS) has taken a cautious approach toward allowing recycled water use over
potable water aquifers because of concerns over degrading or contaminating the underlying,
high-quality groundwater. HBWS has concerns regarding the migration of constituents,
including pesticides and trace organics. As a result, HBWS has developed a project to investigate
potential impacts of irrigation with recycled water in Central Oahu. The purpose of the project is
to determine the level of protection of water quality that exists when recycled water is used for
crop or turf irrigation.
The project was initiated with a literature review and research plan in December 2000. The
current status of the project is described including a detailed water quality characterization of
recycled water and alternative irrigation water sources. Preliminary results from an 18 month
field study are reported in which the percolate water quality from plots irrigated with recycled
water is compared to the percolate from plots irrigated with control groundwater. Includes 2 references, tables, figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 430 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 01/11/2004 |
