WASTEWATER USE IN AGRICULTURE: ANALYTICAL LIMITS OF SEWAGE FOR IMPACT CONTROL IN BRAZIL

ABSTRACT Water deficit is a current problem of global relevance. This is a problem in Brazil, especially in the Semiarid region, which undergoes severe droughts for much of the year. This requires the search for alternatives, such as the planned wastewater use, which is a successful alternative in developed countries that is applied for various purposes, including agriculture. However, despite the increasing growth of agriculture in Brazil, there are no established control and monitoring policies to minimize its impacts on the environment and human health. The country does not have specific legislation that defines wastewater quality parameters for domestic sewage. The objective of this work was to compile international guidelines and legislations that address this issue and compare them with the national normative resolutions for quality of wastewater and its different uses. The most relevant and locally applicable parameters described in these documents were listed, and the reference limits were defined by comparing them with those found in the scientific literature applied to the Brazilian context. This compilation represents the first step towards the incorporation of regulations for water reuse, having the Brazilian Semiarid region as a first test field, but with expandable application to different regions of the country.摘要 水资源短缺是当前具有全球影响力的重要公共问题。巴西同样面临这一困境，尤其是该国半干旱地区（Semiarid Region），该区域一年中多数时段都遭受严重干旱的侵扰。这促使相关领域寻求替代方案，例如计划性废水回用——这一方案在发达国家已取得成熟应用，可用于包括农业在内的多种场景。然而，尽管巴西农业规模持续扩张，但目前尚未建立完善的管控与监测政策，以减轻其对环境及人类健康的负面影响；同时该国也未出台专门立法，明确生活污水的水质参数标准。本研究的目标为汇编针对该议题的国际指南与法规，并将其与巴西国内针对废水水质及其各类回用用途的规范性决议进行对比。研究人员梳理了上述文件中最具相关性且适用于本地场景的参数，并结合巴西本土实际情况，参考相关科学文献确定了参考限值。本次汇编工作为纳入水回用相关法规迈出了第一步，初期将以巴西半干旱地区作为首个试验场，后续可推广至该国其他不同区域。