Title: A strategy for sustainable livestock husbandry wastewater treatment in China

Authors: Jian Liu, Weiping Wang, Yong Zhang, Nan Jiang

Addresses: Zhejiang Provincial Environmental Science, Research and Design Institute, Hangzhou, China. ' Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China. ' Zhejiang Provincial Environmental Science, Research and Design Institute, Hangzhou, China. ' Zhejiang Provincial Environmental Science, Research and Design Institute, Hangzhou, China

Abstract: A strategy for sustainable treatment of the livestock husbandry wastewater is proposed, which is to recycle anaerobic treatment effluent as irrigation water. The existing treatment system was modified by deleting the treatment units after the anaerobic digestion. Chinese cabbage and Korean radish were selected as seeding plants in two sets of field irrigation experiments with various portions of the effluent. The soil quality was found to be unaffected by the irrigation, and both quality and quantity of two vegetables fed with the anaerobic effluent were as good as those fed with chemical fertilisers. The soil quality was improved and the nitrate contents in the harvested plants were reduced.

Keywords: livestock husbandry; wastewater treatment; treatment strategy; effluent reuse; field irrigation tests; sustainability; sustainable development; sustainable treatment; effluent recycling; anaerobic digestion; Chinese cabbage; Korean radish; nitrate content; anaerobic effluent; nitrate reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2011.039092

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2011 Vol.45 No.1/2/3, pp.157 - 165

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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