Demonstration of Practical, Effective and Environmentally Sustainable Agricultural Water Treatments to Achieve Compliance with Microbiological Criteria

<p>Growers should be assisted in determining the risk associated with agricultural water and the best mitigation option to remove pathogens if needed. Water disinfection is one of the most recommended intervention strategies for irrigation water. The main purpose of this project is to demonstrate a practical, effective, and environmentally sustainable water disinfection treatment. Within this regard, we propose the use of stabilized chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as a suitable disinfection treatment. We will try to establish if stabilized ClO2 could be a suitable disinfection treatment to assurance the compliance with the established microbial limits, particularly fecal indicator bacteria such as E. coli. First, agricultural waters from different water sources will be characterized by microbiological and physicochemical parameters. Optimal operational conditions for stabilized ClO2 as a suitable disinfection treatment will be established first at a pilot scale. After that, demonstration of practical, effective and environmentally sustainable agricultural water disinfection treatment will be carried out at commercial fields, where the impact of stabilized ClO2 on the environment will be also evaluated. We believe that the obtained conclusions will be very valuable for growers who will be able to integrate this technology in their water management practices.</p>