IWA Publishing 2013

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Water Practice & Technology Vol 8 No 3-4

doi: 10.2166/wpt.2013.044

The use of primary and secondary treated municipal wastewater

for cucumber irrigation in hydroponic system
G. Pilatakis1, T. Manios1 and N. Tzortzakis1,2
1
Department of Biological Greenhouse Crops and Floriculture, Technological Agricultural School, TEI of Crete, Heraklion,
Greece. E-mail: gpilatos@hotmail.com; tmanios@staff.teicrete.gr
2

Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus.
E-mail: nikolaos.tzortzakis@cut.ac.cy

Abstract
Municipal wastewater may be used in agriculture but requires a careful monitoring of several hygiene parameters. The impact of direct application of treated wastewater in plant growth and development in
hydroponically grown cucumber was studied. Cucumber seedlings used under 5 treatments of nutrient solution,
which were basic nutrient solution (control), primary (PA) and secondary (SA) wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS). The use of PA + NS reduced plant height, leaf number and owers produced as
well as leaf size in cucumber plants but increased stem diameter. When SA + NS used, no similar changes
observed. The increased fruit number and fresh weight, when PA and SA used, resulted in increased yields as
marked at the rst week. The NS enrichment in PA reduced (up to 25%) plant yield while no differences observed
in total fruit number among the treatments. No differences observed in plant biomass, root length and leaf chlorophyll levels among the treatments. The leaf photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance increased in plant
grown in PA + NS and SA, but they did not differ in SA + NS. The use of wastewater resulted in disease
spread in roots and fruits (by cross-contamination). Further exploitation is necessary for microbial load reduction
with wastewater application.
Key words: Cucumis sativus L., fertigation, nutrient lm technique, plant growth, wastewater reuse

INTRODUCTION
The demand for water is continuously increasing in arid and semi-arid countries. Therefore, higher quality water is preserved for domestic use while that of lower quality is recommended for irrigation. The use
of low quality water causes an increase of soil salinity, which may have negative effects on growth and
yield of crops (Manios et al. 2012; Petousi et al. 2012). Soil and water management, irrigation and drainage technologies, developments in plant breeding and selection, enhance and facilitate the use of low
quality water for irrigation with minimum adverse impact on soil productivity and the environment
(Chartzoulakis & Klapaki 2000). In many areas the availability of good quality water is limited.
The pollution of aquatic resources from the waste is an important issue causing environmental concern,
and speculates the residents of each city. One of the most effective way to cope with pollution problem, are
the Installations of Treatment of Urban Waste (ITUW). The aim of ITUW is the urban waste cleaning (segregation) from the harmful components that urban wastes contain in order to apply safely in the
environment. As harmful components of wastes, are considered the bulky segments, sand, small-sized
solids that hovers in the waste mass (hovering solids), the organic natural components (e.g. carbohydrates, proteins, lipids), the pathogenic micro-organisms and the nutrient elements (nitrogen and
phosphorus) (Manios et al. 2006). If the waste products distributed without any treatment in aquatic
recourses, they create several problems (e.g. the pathogenic micro-organisms are responsible for illnesses

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transmission in human being and in other organisms, while the organic components, nitrogen and phosphorus are mainly responsible for the unpleasant/undesirable pollution phenomena).
Municipal wastewater is less expensive and considered an attractive source for irrigation (AlRashed & Sherif 2000; Mohammad & Mazahreh 2003), and any sources of water which might be
used economically and effectively should be considered to promote further development. Thus, particular interests have the possible re-use of processed waste in agricultural crops (Batarseh et al. 1989;
Angelakis et al. 1999). To this direction, several scientic studies take place nowadays in order to
determine the re-use of processed wastewater for crop irrigation needs following primary, secondary
and tertiary (chlorotic, UV, O3 etc) treatment aiming at the maximization of crop yields, not only
quantitative, but also qualitative, without environmental risks (Manios et al. 2006; Petousi et al.
2011). The above ways of wastewater application will accompanied with restrictions that ensure
the protection of public health and the protection of air, aqueous and soil sources. The use of wastewater affected the chemical properties of soil in the rst 30 cm below ground as well as the
constitution of plants (Kiziloglu et al. 2008). Moreover, wastewater application increased soil salinity,
soil organic content as well as exchangeable Na, K, Ca, Mg, and P.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of processed wastewater in plant growth, yield
and quality in hydroponically grown cucumbers.

METHODOLOGY
Experimental design

The experiment was carried out in an unheated plastic greenhouse with a North-South orientation at
the Technological Education Institute of Crete (TEI of Crete), Greece. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus
L. cv. Knossos) plants were grown under natural light from March to May. Average minimum and
maximum air temperatures during this period were 16 and 29 C, respectively.
Seedlings were produced in plastic seedling trays lled with expanded clay and were acquired from
local agriculture nursery. Three-week old seedlings were transplanted in nutrient lm technique (NFT)
channels in late-March. Five different nutrient solution treatments employed: (1) Primary treated wastewater (PA), (2) Primary treated wastewater plus nutrient solution enrichment (PA NS1), (3) Secondary
treated wastewater (SA), (4) Secondary treated wastewater plus nutrient solution enrichment (SA NS2)
and (5) Potable water with nutrient solution enrichment (NS) considered as control treatment. Three
replicate NFT channels per treated water employed and each channel containing 6 plants (18 plants in
total for each treatment). Rows were 1.0 m apart and plants were separated within channel by 0.4 m.
The soilless culture system was closed with the excess nutrient solution (or wastewater solution) drained
away to approximately 35 L capacity catchment tanks and then recirculated. A nutrient solution (1:100 v/
v) in water containing: NO3-N 17.00; NE4-N 0.60; K 8.00; PO4-P 1.00; Ca 5.50; Mg 2.25;
SO4-S 1.56 and Na 1.30 mmol/L, respectively; and B 40.52; Fe 20.39; Mn 12.02; Cu 1.10;
Zn 5.02 and Mo 0.52 mol/L, respectively, was used in the NFT unit at a continuous ow rate of
3 L/min. Nutrient solution enrichment (NS1 and NS2) differentiated by NS (EC: 2.5 dS/m and pH:
5.8), regarding PA and SA elemental composition. Actual pH values of the nutrient solution collected
in catchment tanks uctuated between 5.36 and 6.29 while EC was between 0.822.31 dS/m. Composition and microbial status of PA and SA had been described previously (Manios et al. 2006).
Measurements

It was studied the impacts of primary and secondary treated wastewater with or without nutritious
solution enrichment on plant growth, yield and fruit quality as well as microbial load. It was

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determined in weekly base morphological and physiological parameters of plants such as leaf
number, leaf size (length  width), stem diameter. Additionally, the levels of chlorophyll and uoresces of the leaf determined (Minolta SPAD and Chlorophyll uorometer -opti-sciences S-30p,
UK) while the leaf photosynthetic rate (pn), stomatal conductance (gs) and internal concentration
of CO2 (Ci) determined using a portable infra-red gas analyser (model Li-6200, Li-Cor, Inc., Lincoln,
Nebr.). Measurements were carried out between 9:0011:10AM, the leaf temperature within the
chamber was (28 + 2)C, photosynthetic photon ux density of 1,300 mol/m2/s at the ambient
CO2 concentration. The Li 6200 was equipped with a leaf chamber with constant area inserts
(6.0 cm2). All gas-exchange measurements started 3 h after the onset of the photoperiod and were
replicated in nine plants in each treatment and on two fully expanded, healthy, sun-exposed leaves
per plant.
Moreover, it was determined fruit number and fruit fresh weight, fruit dry matter, total yield and
fresh and dry content of plant biomass (upper part and roots with the experiment completion).
Fruit quality-related parameters evaluated for harvested fruits, such as mean fresh weight, cucumber
length and cucumber diameter as well as the development of microbial activity (total coliforms,
Escherichia coli and salmonella).
Statistical analysis

Data were tested for normality, and then subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Signicant
differences between mean values were determined using Duncans Multiple Range test (P , 0.05) following one-way ANOVA. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill.).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effects on plant growth

The EC without nutrient enrichment for PA and SA was 0.95 and 0.89 dS/m respectively. Use of
PA + NS1 for irrigation in hydroponically grown cucumbers, reduced (up to 13%) plant height
(Figure 1). Similar reduction observed on leaf number and leaf size (length  width) produced in
cucumber plants. In the same treatments, the number of owers decreased up to 43% while, on the

Figure 1 | Impact of Primary (PA) and Secondary (SA) treated wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS)
comparing with control on leaf number produced, plant height (m), ower number, stem diameter (cm), leaf chlorophyll levels
and leaf uoresces (Fv/Fm) in hydroponically grown cucumber in NFT. Values are means +SE according to Duncans MRT.

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contrary, stem diameter increased (up to 51%) as a consequence of the increased EC when additional
NS applied on top of the enriched PA solution. Indeed, no similar observations took place for SA +
NS2 treatments. No major differences observed in the levels of chlorophyll and uorescence of leaves
between the treatments. When cucumber and tomato plants grown, in pot culture, in mixture of substrates (soil:peat:sand:compost 1:1:1:1) under primary and secondary wastewater fertigation some
positive effect (increase) observed in plant height and leaf number (Manios et al. 2006). Those outcomes are not in agreement completely with the present study and probably this is due to the
protective role that substrate had (physicochemical properties of substrate mixture) compared with
the NFT culture whereas the nutrient absorption is directly related to the nutrient present in root
zone.

Figure 2 | PA and Secondary (SA) treated wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS) comparing with control
on leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn, mol/m2/s), stomata conductance (gs, mmol/m2/s) and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci,
mol/mol) of fully expanded leaves in hydroponically grown cucumber in NFT. Values are means +SE according to Duncans
MRT.

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The photosynthetic rate, the stomatal conductance and the internal concentration of CO2 of leaves
were increased (up to 32%) in plants grown in PA + NS1 and SA while it was not differentiated in
control and in SA NS treatment (Figure 2). No major differences observed during the rst half of
the experiment among treatments (with exception of SA NS on leaf stomatal conductance level).
Effects on plant productivity

The increased plant production during the rst harvesting week in PA and SA treatment was due to
the increased number of fruits and the increased fruit fresh weight. In the same treatments fruit dry
matter content decreased (Figure 3). Nutrient enrichment (NS1) in PA treatment decreased (up to

Figure 3 | PA and Secondary (SA) treated wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS) comparing with control
on the weekly number of fruit produced, mean fruit weight and yield in hydroponically grown cucumber in NFT. Values are
means +SE according to Duncans MRT.

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Figure 4 | PA and Secondary (SA) treated wastewater with or without nutrient solution enrichment (NS) comparing with control
on total plant yield in hydroponically grown cucumber in NFT. Values are means +SE according to Duncans MRT.

25%) the total yield per plant which is may related to the increased EC of the nutrient solution while it
was not differentiated the number of fruits produced between the treatments (Figure 4). The utilization of PA and SA wastewater was studied in lettuce and cabbage in DFT system, with problems
of phytotoxicity appeared when PA employed. Moreover plant yield reduced when PA and SA
used compared with control treatment (Chow et al. 2001), where they are in agreement to some
extent with the present study. Kiziloglu and coworkers (2008) found reduction in the production of
cauliower and cabbage following use of wastewater. Tomato irrigated with secondary treated wastewater in soil surface or at 15 cm depth, increased (up to 1.8 ton/str.) total yield compared with control
treatment (plants irrigated with water) (Naja et al. 2006). When lettuce treated with wastewater
increased yield compared with control as well as increased N, P, Pb and Al content in plant tissues
(Manas et al. 2009).
Use treated wastewater did not affect the plant biomass (fresh and dry weight) of upper part and
root, either root length. Moreover the employment of wastewater enhanced root disease spread
among treated plants. Through microbiological analysis, microbial loan (total coliforms, E. coli and
salmonella) in fruits found in wastewater treated plants but more interesting even to the control, probably through microbial transport and/or cross-contamination (data not presented). These ndings
agreed with previous study with effect of wastewater in tomato and cucumber pot culture (Manios
et al. 2006). Interesting, lemon trees treated with secondary wastewater or shrubs treated with tertiary
(peroxyacetic acid and UV) wastewater reduced or eliminated the bacteria loan (E. coli) as reported
by Pedrero & Alarcn (2009) and Lubello et al. (2004) respectively.
The problem of adequate freshwater resources becomes even greater in arid and semiarid areas of
the world. The island of Crete is a large tourist area, especially during summer, which underlines the
necessity of wastewater reuse for the irrigation crop need (Angelakis et al. 1999). However, indicators,
nutrients and residual chloride are not the only pollutants found in wastewater, treated or untreated.
Organic pollutants and heavy metals are also part of the problem, which following continual application, may resulted in buildup on metals in the substrate or in the nutrient solution.

CONCLUSIONS
Employing treated wastewater in agriculture may act as an alternative way for crop irrigation considering the great water shortage in last years. Moreover, wastewater contain nutritive value (mainly N
and P) that should be considered as additives in crop needs while the microbial loan that wastewater
may contain may act as negative parameter for plant growth and fruit production. The implementation of very careful handling practices during the experiment may explain that indicators move
only indirectly, probably through insects. Further research study is necessary for the complete exploitation of wastewater in agriculture and special in vegetables, which are consider as edible fresh

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products. Moreover, disinfection means in the wastewater should be applied before or during their
utilization in hydroponically grown crops in order to reduce microbial loan.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was supported by the Technological Education Institute of Crete. We thank Dr Stelios Terzakis for his respective technical inputs on microbial analysis.

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