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Household wastewater good for growing vegetables |
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Source Bong Garcia (Sunstar)
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Friday, 20 April 2007 |
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HOUSEHOLD wastewater, consisting of wash water from the kitchen, laundry and bathroom called "gray water" and human wastewater (urine), can be used for watering and fertilizing vegetables in the backyard.
In a study conducted by researchers of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology in Los Baños, Laguna and Aquatic Biosystems in Bay, Laguna, it was reported at the International Seminar-Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City that applying up to 20% concentration of kitchen wastewater for watering mustard (Brassica juncea), a common vegetable, gave as good a yield as that with tap water (control) alone.
The use of 20 percent human wastewater in watering, however, increased the growth of the test plant dramatically by 260 percent over that of the control, indicating that it was an efficient source of plant nutrients.
Household wastewater is a major pollutant of water bodies such as rivers and lakes in communities that have no wastewater treatment facilities. In the Philippines, 70 percent of the total organic pollution in natural waters is from untreated domestic wastewater.
Kitchen wastewater, which comprise 13 percent of total household wastewater, contains less that 1 ppm of nitrate and about 5 ppm of phosphate.
Human wastewater, which is produced at the rate of 1.5 liters per person per day, contains 11-17 percent carbon, 15-19 percent nitrogen, 4-6 percent calcium, 3-5 percent potassium, and 2-5 percent phosphorus. (DOST)
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Last Updated ( Friday, 20 April 2007 )
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