© 2007 IWA Publishing. Organic Waste Recycling: Technology and Management. Authored by
Chongrak Polprasert. ISBN: 9781843391210. Published by IWA Publishing, London, UK.
8 Land treatment of wastewater
Land treatment is defined as the controlled application of wastes on to the land
surface to achieve a specified degree of treatment through natural physical,
chemical and biological processes within the plant-soil-water matrix.
Land treatment of wastewater has been practiced for long time and it has
received considerable attention nowadays as an alternative treatment to other
existing treatment processes. In developing countries, where land is plentiful,
land treatment is considered as a less expensive treatment method.
8.1 Objectives, benefits, and limitations
In the past, the objective of land treatment was simply to dispose of the wastes,
but the current trend of this practice has included the utilization of nutrients in
the wastewater and sludge for crop production and tertiary (advanced) treatment
of wastewater or to recharge groundwater.
Wastewater disposal on land will be a viable treatment method only if the
protection of groundwater from possible degradation is held as a prime
objective. With the treatment of wastewater, other benefits such as economic