AFROZA AKHTER, MEHPARA MAQSOOD AND RIFFAT ANJUM FATIMA
Abstract
Water, food, and energy security are important pillars of human existence on Earth. Water is an important medium for all biochemical reactions in living organisms and is one of the most poorly managed natural resources on earth. As water plays an important role in the growth of countries, a steady supply of fresh water is a crucial prerequisite for the establishment of permanent settlements/ communities. Yet the worldâs supply of clean fresh water is steadily decreasing over the last few decades due to urbanization, industrialization and climate change. On the contrary, the volume of wastewater is increasing day by day. To mitigate the enormous pollution effect of it on fresh water bodies, soil and to harvest the manurial ingredients present in the wastewater. Wastewater farming has emerged an alternative in those areas, where fresh water is scarce and farmers have marginal economies. This process of wastewater farming has led to enhanced yield in the irrigated crops and compensated the cost of fertilizers, simultaneously paving a way for its disposal, thus helping in the abatement of pollution. Although, itâs use has led to the build-up of toxic heavy metals including Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), Arsenic (Ar) and Nickel (Ni) in the soil and ultimately in the food chain. The authorâs thus felt a need to conduct a literature review to study the economic dividends and risk factors associated with wastewater farming. The result of the said study showed that in most of the studied cases, although it enhanced the morphological/ physiological parameters ultimately leading to enhanced yield; yet, aslight build-up of heavy metals in the seeds was also noted which was within the permissible limits of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). So, the wastewater farming needs to be regulated and may be used only after the wastewater undergoing treatments.