Safe intermittent agricultural irrigation (StaySafe)

Increasing water scarcity requires the use of reclaimed water for agricultural irrigation, even in regions that previously had sufficient freshwater supplies. In contrast to advanced treatment, there are fundamental knowledge gaps regarding the fate and regrowth of pathogens in the distribution system, i.e., during transportation and storage. Due to the highly fluctuating irrigation demand and rainfall patterns, many irrigation systems are operated dynamically, with stagnation periods lasting days to weeks. The StaySafe project is the first to experimentally investigate the development of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) during transportation and storage. Different treated water qualities, dynamic operating modes and (re-)disinfection strategies will be directly compared. Therefore, the project aims to (a) suppress recontamination with pathogens, (b) identify the most suitable disinfection strategies under non-stationary operating conditions and (c) prevent the spread of AMR. A safe and stable biofilm should be achieved through optimum operating conditions.

The optimal system configuration will be determined using modern modeling approaches of microbial and physical-chemical water quality under non-stationary conditions. A digital twin will support operational decision-making in two case studies in Germany and Israel. The developed management framework will be transferable to other application sites and thus promote the introduction of reuse procedures for non-potable water quality applications.