Economic and Environmental Effects of Using Treated Wastewater with Robust Feasibility Chance Constraint Programming

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/ijaedr.2024.367113.669262

Abstract

Managing the pollution of water resources while allocating water resources appropriately to different sectors can lead to socio-economic and environmental developments. Surface water sources have a high pollution load in the south of Tehran Province due to the upstream discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater. However, these sources are used for irrigation in the agricultural sector, leading to environmental problems. As a measure to solve this problem, a plan is to build surface water treatment plants before using the water for agricultural and industrial purposes. This study investigates the economic and environmental effects of the using treated wastewater in the south of Tehran Province. This study employed a hydro-economic model under conditions of uncertainty. The results indicate that under the existing conditions, the net system benefit will decrease in pursuit of the economic-environmental optimal state. So that for reducing each ton of nitrate input to water resources due to the reduction of the level of economic activities, the net system benefit is reduced by 36167 million rials. This decline in benefit can be compensated by adopting solutions such as the application of treated wastewater, using the fertilizer potential of water sources or increasing the treatment level of the wastewater generated in industrial and municipal sectors.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Extended Abstract

Objectives

Surface water sources have a high pollution load in the south of Tehran Province due to the upstream discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater. However, these sources are used for irrigation in the agricultural sector, leading to environmental problems. To solve this problem, a plan is to build the irrigation network and surface water treatment plants before using the water for agricultural and industrial purposes. The present study aims to investigate the economic and environmental effects of controlling nitrate input on water resources, which is to be accomplished by implementing the treated wastewater application plan in industrial and agricultural sectors and applying environmental constraints. The results will be subsequently compared with the status quo where polluted water is used for irrigation of agricultural lands.

 

Methods

A simulation-optimization model was used to investigate treated wastewater's economic and environmental effects. The SWAT model is used as a simulation model. The SWAT model has been used to compute the amount of surface runoff from and the amount of nitrate transported with surface runoff from agricultural fields. The results of the SWAT model will be entered as input in the robust feasibility chance constraint programming. The robust feasibility chance constraint programming will effectively deal with uncertainties existing in water resource systems.

 

Results

Applying environmental constraints will increase the contribution of crops that cause less pollution, so that the share of orage corn increases from 26 to 36 percent in the economic optimal state compared to the economic-environmental optimal state. The results indicate that under the existing conditions, the net system benefit will decrease in pursuit of the economic-environmental optimal state. So that for reducing each ton of nitrate input to water resources due to the reduction of the level of economic activities, the net system benefit is reduced by 36167 million rials.

 

Discussion

The cultivation area and the net system benefit will be reduced by applying environmental constraints compared to optimal economic situation in the study area. The decline in benefit can be compensated by adopting solutions such as the application of treated wastewater, using the fertilizer potential of water sources or increasing the treatment level of the wastewater generated in industrial and municipal sectors. According to the results, the required nitrogen fertilizer for the crop will be provided by using the fertilizer potential of treated wastewater and groundwater, which will reduce the amount of nitrogen leaching into the soil and water sources in the region. In fact, it can be claimed that treated wastewater is both a source of water and a source of nutrients in the agricultural sector. It is also possible to allocate more conventional water resources to the municipal sector by treated wastewater allocating to the industry and agriculture sectors.

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Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research
Volume 55, Issue 3
October 2024
Pages 467-488

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