Operational management of water quality to prevent physical, chemical, and microbial contaminations in hydroponic cultivation

• Published in: Water science & technology. Water supply 2024-09, Vol.24 (9), p.3046-3060
• Main Authors: Jafari, Majid, Asadi, Esmaeil, Fakheri Fard, Ahmad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural practices; Biological contamination; Biomonitoring; Coagulation; Contamination; Cultivation; Farm buildings; Flocculation; Greenhouses; Hydroponics; Irrigation; Irrigation systems; Irrigation water; Jar tests; Management methods; Microbial contamination; Microorganisms; Natural resources; Optimization; Plant diseases; Pretreatment; Reverse osmosis; River water; Rivers; Sand filters; Surface water; Sustainable agriculture; Ultrafiltration; Water consumption; Water management; Water quality; Water quality management; Water reuse; Water treatment
• ISSN: 1606-9749; 1607-0798
• DOI: 10.2166/ws.2024.192

The overarching aim of the present research is to manage the quality of surface water and irrigation water in hydroponic cultivation, which is one of the sustainable modern agricultural methods. It fully covered the control of physical, chemical, and biological contamination within the recommended standard range from river water to irrigation water. Initially, to deal with the corresponding contamination levels, the performance of the combination of coagulation and flocculation, rapid sand filter, ultrafiltration, and ultimately reverse osmosis methods were examined. By optimizing the pre-treatment section of coagulation and flocculation with jar tests, more than 90% removal of colloidal materials was achieved. Following the optimization of pre-treatment section, an 18.7% reduction in water consumption was observed. Finally, through the examination of the irrigation system and monitoring of both physical and biological contaminations, alongside the optimization of the greenhouse's recycled water disinfection system, preventive measures inhibiting the irrigation system clogging were implemented. The findings of the current research exhibited the removal of over 99% of these contaminations yielding a 99% reduction in the occurrence of irrigation system clogging.