Project Description

To assess the environmental risks of irrigating with reuse water that contains pharmaceuticals and personal care products, or endocrine disrupting compounds (PPCP/EDCs), this project will conduct fate and transport studies in the laboratory, greenhouse and field, with a primary emphasis of using reuse water for irrigating turfgrass systems. The underlying hypothesis is that the irrigated landscapes have the capacity to attenuate or otherwise remove the various biological and chemical contaminants, preventing them from reaching drinking water sources (e.g., groundwater) or surface aquatic ecosystems. To date little is known about the fate and transport of emerging contaminants such as PPCP/EDCs from reuse water in landscape systems receiving reuse water through irrigation. We seek to better understand the effectiveness of turf/soil systems to mitigate their vertical movement through leaching. If we can describe the transport behavior of such contaminants, we can begin formulating safer reuse management strategies, so that communities and end users will continue to use reuse water for irrigation purposes, contributing to the continued conservation of freshwater sources. This project is a collaboration of DRI, UNLV, SNWA and the University of California Riverside. Northern California Golf Association is the project lead, with more than 15 utilities and stakeholders financially contributing to the project.