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Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation

Received: 2 September 2014     Accepted: 25 September 2014     Published: 10 October 2014
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Abstract

Water reuse is one of the alternatives to counteract the already experienced water shortages. However water reuse as any other investment is associated with costs. This article looks at water reuse for irrigation as one of the areas that has recently gained attention. However, water reuse requires a prior installation of wastewater treatment and the irrigation systems of which all requires financial resources. Analysis of the costs and benefits of water reuse remains one of the key tools for decision making. Unfortunately there has been no universal way for doing cost benefit analysis that can fit all reuse applications and the local settings. The objective of this study was to customize the existing water reuse cost benefit analysis methods and develop cost benefit analysis for water reuse in irrigation. The net benefit value approach was studied, examined and modified to incorporate all the relevant cost items and benefits associated with water reuse in irrigation. Based on the approach developed a discussion have been made whereby it was evident that the main cost elements for water reuse in irrigation are those associated with land for installations, the treatment plant and the irrigation systems involving their installations, operation and maintenance. On the other hand it has been shown that the main elements for benefits are related to natural resources recovered, improved agricultural production and the environmental benefits.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16
Page(s) 179-184
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cost Benefit Analysis, Wastewater Treatment, Water Reuse, Irrigation Cost

References
[1] L. E. de-Bashan and Bashan, Y.,Recent advances in removing phosphorus from wastewater and its future use as fertilizer (1997–2003), Water Research, 38 19, 2004, pp. 4222-4246.
[2] A. Urkiaga, de las Fuentes, L., Bis, B., Chiru, E., Balasz, B. and Hernández, F.,Development of analysis tools for social, economic and ecological effects of water reuse, Desalination, 218 1–3, 2008, pp. 81-91.
[3] B. Janosova, Miklankova, J., Hlavinek, P. and Wintgens, T.,Drivers for wastewater reuse: regional analysis in the Czech Republic, Desalination, 187 1–3, 2006, pp. 103-114.
[4] A. H. M. J. Alobaidy, Al-Sameraiy, M. A., Kadhem, A. J. and Majeed, A. A.,Evaluation of Treated Municipal Wastewater Quality for Irrigation, Journal of Environmental Protection, 1 3, 2010, pp. 216-225.
[5] M. A. Hanjra, Blackwell, J., Carr, G., Zhang, F. and Jackson, T. M.,Wastewater irrigation and environmental health: Implications for water governance and public policy, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 215 3, 2012, pp. 255-269.
[6] F. R. Rijsberman,Water scarcity: Fact or fiction?, Agricultural Water Management, 80 1–3, 2006, pp. 5-22.
[7] R. Chen and Wang , X. C.,Cost–benefit evaluation of a decentralized water system for wastewater reuse and environmental protection, Water Science & Technology, 59 8, 2009, pp. 1515–1522.
[8] M. Molinos-Senante, Hernández-Sancho, F. and Sala-Garrido, R.,Cost-benefit analysis of water-reuse projects for environmental purposes: A case study for spanish wastewater treatment plants, Journal of Environmental Management, 92 12, 2011, pp. 3091-3097.
[9] I. Hussain, Raschid, L., Hanjra, M. A., Marikar, F. and Hoek, W., Wastewater use in agriculture: Review of impacts and methodological issues in valuing impacts, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2002.
[10] F. Hernández-Sancho and Sala-Garrido, R.,Technical efficiency and cost analysis in wastewater treatment processes: A DEA approach, Desalination, 249 1, 2009, pp. 230-234.
[11] F. Hernández, Urkiaga, A., De las Fuentes, L., Bis, B., Chiru, E., Balazs, B. and Wintgens, T.,Feasibility studies for water reuse projects: an economical approach, Desalination, 187 1–3, 2006, pp. 253-261.
[12] E. Friedler,Water reuse — an integral part of water resources management:: Israel as a case study, Water Policy, 3 1, 2001, pp. 29-39.
[13] S. Godfrey, Labhasetwar, P. and Wate, S.,Greywater reuse in residential schools in Madhya Pradesh, India-A case study of cost-benefit analysis, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 53 5, 2009, pp. 287-293.
[14] WHO, Guidelines for the safe use of Wastewater, Excreta and greywater, Wastewater use in agriculture, WHO Press, Geneva, 2006.
[15] J. Kihila, Mtei, K. M. and Njau, K. N., "Wastewater Treatment for reuse in Urban Agriculture, The case of Moshi Municipality, Tanzania" [In preparation]
[16] United Republic of Tanzania, National Land Policy, Development. Government Printer, Dar es Salaam, 1997. pp
[17] X. Zou, Li, Y. e., Cremades, R., Gao, Q., Wan, Y. and Qin, X.,Cost-effectiveness analysis of water-saving irrigation technologies based on climate change response: A case study of China, Agricultural Water Management, 129 0, 2013, pp. 9-20.
[18] L. S. Pereira, Oweis, T. and Zairi, A.,Irrigation management under water scarcity, Agricultural Water Management, 57 3, 2002, pp. 175-206.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Jacob Kihila, Kelvin Mark Mtei, Karoli Nicholas Njau. (2014). Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 2(5), 179-184. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16

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    ACS Style

    Jacob Kihila; Kelvin Mark Mtei; Karoli Nicholas Njau. Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2014, 2(5), 179-184. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16

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    AMA Style

    Jacob Kihila, Kelvin Mark Mtei, Karoli Nicholas Njau. Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2014;2(5):179-184. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16,
      author = {Jacob Kihila and Kelvin Mark Mtei and Karoli Nicholas Njau},
      title = {Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {179-184},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20140205.16},
      abstract = {Water reuse is one of the alternatives to counteract the already experienced water shortages. However water reuse as any other investment is associated with costs. This article looks at water reuse for irrigation as one of the areas that has recently gained attention. However, water reuse requires a prior installation of wastewater treatment and the irrigation systems of which all requires financial resources. Analysis of the costs and benefits of water reuse remains one of the key tools for decision making. Unfortunately there has been no universal way for doing cost benefit analysis that can fit all reuse applications and the local settings. The objective of this study was to customize the existing water reuse cost benefit analysis methods and develop cost benefit analysis for water reuse in irrigation. The net benefit value approach was studied, examined and modified to incorporate all the relevant cost items and benefits associated with water reuse in irrigation. Based on the approach developed a discussion have been made whereby it was evident  that the main cost elements for water reuse in irrigation are those associated with land for installations, the treatment plant and the irrigation systems involving their installations, operation and maintenance. On the other hand it has been shown that the main elements for benefits are related to natural resources recovered, improved agricultural production and the environmental benefits.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Development of a Cost-Benefit Analysis Approach for Water Reuse in Irrigation
    AU  - Jacob Kihila
    AU  - Kelvin Mark Mtei
    AU  - Karoli Nicholas Njau
    Y1  - 2014/10/10
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    SP  - 179
    EP  - 184
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7536
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140205.16
    AB  - Water reuse is one of the alternatives to counteract the already experienced water shortages. However water reuse as any other investment is associated with costs. This article looks at water reuse for irrigation as one of the areas that has recently gained attention. However, water reuse requires a prior installation of wastewater treatment and the irrigation systems of which all requires financial resources. Analysis of the costs and benefits of water reuse remains one of the key tools for decision making. Unfortunately there has been no universal way for doing cost benefit analysis that can fit all reuse applications and the local settings. The objective of this study was to customize the existing water reuse cost benefit analysis methods and develop cost benefit analysis for water reuse in irrigation. The net benefit value approach was studied, examined and modified to incorporate all the relevant cost items and benefits associated with water reuse in irrigation. Based on the approach developed a discussion have been made whereby it was evident  that the main cost elements for water reuse in irrigation are those associated with land for installations, the treatment plant and the irrigation systems involving their installations, operation and maintenance. On the other hand it has been shown that the main elements for benefits are related to natural resources recovered, improved agricultural production and the environmental benefits.
    VL  - 2
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

  • Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

  • Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

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