Short answer is no, absolutely not. In my country, Govt. is planning to ban the use of untreated sewage water for veg production, as analysis have shown that vegetable grown with this water were highly toxic.

I have seen this practice being done in Mexico, however it is not fully acceptable. I attended a wastewater conference in Mexico City and a number of postdoctoral researchers/lecturers recommended that I didn't consume any fresh cut fruit, such as chopped melon etc, because it would have been watered using untreated wastewater. As an environmental engineer, I disapprove of using untreated wastwater for veg production. See below link (not affiliated with me, but it proves my point.)

http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/78%289%291104.pdf

My Dear @Saeed Ahmad Asad and @Edelle Doherty  it is true one should not go for direct use of untreated sewage waste for irrigating vegetables etc. but in maximum parts of developing world it is a common practice and people are growing it, selling it in market and most of the city people are again eating it. That's why I put this discussion How best we can improve this pathetic situation. regards

@Sarwan Kumar Dubey, My apologies, I had thought that you must have had experience in this area from your title. How best to improve the situation? Perhaps offer farmers etc, free access to treated wastewater from WWTPs, similar to what the Atotonilco WWTP in Mexico hope/plan to implement. This way, the farmers can maintain their cost-effective irrigation methods while effluent discharge testing will allow for tighter monitoring of these irrigation sources. Again, the below link is no affiliation to my own research.  Regards

http://www.acciona-agua.com/activities/wastewater-/atotonilco-wwtp-.aspx

Thanks @Edelle Doherty for your honest comment. I have some  12 years experience in working in this line but here in India whatever rules are being framed by government are not being implemented et al. First of all all the collected sewage did not have facility of treatments. though few experiments were conducted on farmers fields for using these waters but they are very small. Problem is growing day by day as big cities are becoming bigger and infrastructure to collect this sewage is also growing exponentially. In 2050 in India it is expected that these sewage waters will play a majour role in agriculture as availability of irrigation water in Agriculture sector will reduce by 10%.  I just wanted to collect the Ideas being practiced in rest of the world. thanks for you comment and regards

It is only after proper treatment that remove toxic elements,may be used for agriculture. In fact it is a costly proposition and future  safe use of  treated waste water will depend upon how national government would look at this scenario with giant financial support.

Resected Sir, Thanks for your valuable suggestion. Of course  huge amount of infrastructure and money envolvment required. It is possible only with firm commitment of Government. Very True

 Regards

Majority of the farmers in the developing world prefer wastewater water irrigation as it is a rich source of nutrients while municipal authorities consider this practice as a viable option for disposal. However, untreated/raw industrial effluent being discharged by factories, which ultimately gets mixed with the urban sewage, may contain excessive amounts of heavy metals/metalloids like cadmium, chromium, nickel, manganese, zinc, lead, etc. These metals/metalloids in soil, if present in excessive quantities to permissible levels, may enter the food chain thus becoming toxic to plants and human beings. Despite the great importance of peri-urban informal agriculture as food source for the urban community and as income generation means for the poor dwellers, it is subject to numerous constraints and is causing high health risks. It is, therefore, treatment of sewage should be made mandatory prior to its use in agriculture. Under unavoidable circumstances, wastewater should be diluted with freshwater. But still, it should be got tested from some nearby soil/water/food testing laboratory, especially for its heavy metal contents. To avoid metal entry in to food chain, untreated waste water should preferably be used to irrigate non-vegetable crops such as cotton, ornamental plants, green belts, urban forest plantations, etc. However, a gap of 1-2 years should be given after every 3-4 years of sewage application to allow the soil to come back to the equilibrium. Untreated wastewater irrigation should be avoided to vegetable crops especially leafy vegetables as well as those ones which are consumed raw/uncooked as a salad like cucumber, tomato, carrot, radish etc. Only those vegetable crops should be irrigated that bear above-ground edible parts and are cooked before consumption.

Dear Dr Yogesh ji, Thanks for such an excellent and elaborated answer. I totally agree with you. It is being practiced by Indian farmers. During my study period I found the farmers they know the timing and number of irrigation throigh sewage for maximum and quality yields of different crops. Thanks for your participation. Regards. 

Australian and US EPA has guidelines and standards for treating wastewater effluent to reuse in agricultural field. Another low cost solution could be using reed beds to treat the effluent prior to applying to the agricultural field. The level of treatment depends on what type of crop is being grown in the field. For vegetables, berries, the criteria for pathogens and other pollutants could be more stringent as described by Yogeshji. Important thing to consider here is whether the farmers and other people are coming in direct contact with this effluent or not, if that's the case then public health becomes prime concern.

Dear Jyoti in India too we have guidelines and standards for treating sewages before there use. Only thing is that the coat of treatment is very high and not economical for treating agencies. Hence some new innovative research is required. Thanks

Present condition in my native Velore district Tamil nadu rightnow the condition is the polluted untreated water spreaded every were due to breakage of transportation pipelines and most of the land has got polluted by untreated chromium wastage from industries I do know how government will act on this issue

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-ranipet-among-world-s-top-ten-polluted-cities-1087070

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/ranipet-tanneries-tragedy-lack-of-pollution-control-in-tamil-nadu/article6848725.ece

http://coveringdeprivation.acjnewsline.org/?p=5130

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/10-workers-killed-as-effluent-tank-collapses-in-vellore/article6841995.ece

Yes some location  where there is a problem  in the water they  use it after many process and the under restriction

If the wastewater contains a lot of pathogens can not be used for vegetables that are eaten raw, but its suitable to use plants consumed after processing or industrial plants (Eg cotton ).

You can see my article about use of wastewater with high pathogen on cotton plant:

http://jast.modares.ac.ir/?_action=article&au=42003&_au=M.++Alikhasi

Article The Effect of Treated Municipal Wastewater Irrigation in Non...

Not only sewerage even industrial effluents disturb the ecology and environment.

The establishment of sewage and effluent treatment plants is accompanied by considerable investment. Further the preservation of these installations in order to keep an optimum use of  these plants concerning efficiency, qualitative and quantitative function involves maintenance and cost. Many Small and Medium industries with no long term focus, take short cuts to drain their wastes into well or pits, which affect the ground water quality and the nearby agricultural lands.

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=22&ved=0CCEQFjABOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unep.org%2FGC%2FGCSS-VIII%2FIsrael_sanitation.doc&ei=sN3RVIHfD-K07QbfloDwAw&usg=AFQjCNG2hkyA3a6kGe-8AmBmthzux_v4FA&cad=rja

@ Dr Krishnan Umachandran, I worked in Panipat district of Haryana in India and find that as you mentioned finding a Short cut people disposed off sewage effluent of the city containing dye industry effluent polluted ground water after disposing in open pond and created drinking water problem on the villages.

Article Contamination of ground water as a consequence of land dispo...

According to several estimates, about 80 per cent of water used in towns and cities ultimately adopts the form of Sewage Water. At least one-tenth of the world’s population is thought to consume foods produced by irrigation with wastewater. It has been estimated that at least 20 million hectares in 50 countries are irrigated with raw or partially treated wastewater. Wastewater is mainly used in urban agriculture which often supplies a large proportion of the fresh vegetables sold in many cities, particularly in developing countries. On an average, only about 10% of all wastewater in developing countries receives treatment. WHO/UNICEF has estimated the median percentage of wastewater treated by effective treatment plants to be 35% in Asia, 14% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 90% in North America and 66% in Europe. Lack of policy and strategy on the safe use of wastewater in agriculture, insufficient access to non-contaminated or clean water, poor water use efficiency, and lack of awareness and technical skill among farmers are resulting into health problems from the usage of contaminated and polluted water.

Waste sewage water in urban agriculture and for vegetables usually used without treatment, and causing diseases. Municipal authorities/Government could not provide water treatment plants, which is a irresponsible behavior.

Rather agriculturists and vegetable growers did not care for this.

Dear @Subhas C Kundu ji, Of course behavior of treatment plants is irresponsible and poor farmers are always go for cheap and beneficial way and never worried about others as they suffer economically. We should not think veggie growers/farmers should take care why not municipal or treatment plants should take care and Our government should make more stringent rules and strictly make them follow. Thanks

@Yogesh ji, You have very rightly mentioned the reality of its use and Global statistics. We have to have create mass awareness campaign not for only farmers but also for citizens who are using these affected veggies. Regards.

@ Prabhakar Purshotaman ji, I can understand your pain. I also lived with the people of Panipat where ground water polluted with dye waste which is only industry may be flourishing in each and every home. Group d waters became deep coloutef and affected with salts being used in dye industry. I can understand the situation at Ranipet. Their only collective efforts of people and Government can work and solve the problem. Thanks.

My Dear ISHAG ADAMS janab, Thanks for your kind participation. You have rightly pointed out that this water should be used after proper treatment but people are not doing so. Greed prevails over health of fellow citizens. Sorry.

My Dear Mahadi Alikhasi, Thanks for your comment and nice paper. We also tried some tree plantation like Eucalyptus and Popler with sewage and industrial waste waters. Thanks again

Dear Sarwan

If the waste in wastewater are organic in nature I think there is no problem using them in peri-urban agriculture. By cons, if the waste contained in waste water containing heavy metals and pathogens should outlaw their use.

Best regards

FADEL  

@ Fadel Djamel, thanks for your kind participation. Waste in waste water is mostly organic along with pathogens and heavy metals. Hence there must be required treatment should be adopted. Thanks again.

In my country, I know 2 locations in which untreated sewage water is used to grow plants: the first uses this type of water for parsley,mint, and lettuce while the second uses it for tobacco. Many persons (including me) avoid buying the foodstuffs from the first location & many smokers do not care about the second. In a nearby country, this "dirty" water was tested for growing cotton & it was successful. 

Thanks@ Dr Nizar Matar, for your participation and sharing useful information. As long as. It is being used for cotton and other plants which does not comes directly in the food chain no bog issue to use it. Yes for growing veggiesand other salad crops like onion, celery,carrot,raddish,Palak etc it should not be used. Unfortunately they use only for these crops. 

• Agriculture is pushed out of peri-urban areas with increasing pressure on land
• Municipal authorities have no capacities to treat the wastewater to the level required for their own domestic uses
• Quantities of wastewater are increasing and hence, they are being conveyed to longer distance

http://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/alka_palrecha.pdf

A June 2003 report on Kanpur-chromium-disaster and environmental issues in the URL below shows the urgency, imporatance and needs to treat the waste and contaminated water from industries and tanneries.

http://www.gangaaction.org/book-review/kanpur-chromium-disaster/

It should be made necessary to treat the waste water upto the contamination level defined by the international waste water standards.

@Krishnan Umachandran, Yes Sir, Very rightly mentioned that day by day quantity of urban waste water is increasing for its disposal it is being transported to far reaches and polluting larger areas. It is also true Municipalities are enable to treat this water. What will happen is a big question mark. regards 

@ Dr Braham Pal Singh, Thanks for your link and sharing your views. The report is eye opening and will be useful to one of my scientist is looking after lower Yamuna water quality. It will help her too. thanks

@ Shaban Ahmed Ali Abdel-Raheem; Yes my dear it is true it must be used only after treatment, but it cost a lot. For continuous running of treatment plant a strong will of government and stringent implication of guidelines is required. Thanks for your suggestions. regards

I think government has to spread awareness about importance of water treatment  and encourage young researchers to take it as research area and provide facilities to conduct research to come out with cost effective solution will be a best solution for the problem

I agree with Prabhakar Purushothaman

Furthermore researchers themselves have to  focus on  the water 

@ Sarwan: Wastewater reuse is site specific and the impacts generated from using treated or partially treated wastewater vary from one site to another, from one crop to another. Soil type, aquifer hydrology, climate, crop sensitivity and other factors are in the order! Generally speaking raw wastewater with no treatment at all CAN NOT be used mainly in vegetable irrigation. More concern should be towards vegetables (salad crops) and raw fruits. Partially treated wastewater might be used for unrestricted crops i.e. olive and citrus trees...In each case, impacts should be monitored and some measurement might be taken. Main problems we found is SAR and heavy metals build up mainly when wastewater has high rates of Na and H.M. Wastewater could provide a good nonconventional water resource, but this has to be carefully handled as the impacts are site and crop specific.

@Prabhakar Purushothaman and @Ishag Adam, I appreciate your thinking. Yes govt has to encourage the young researchers to come forward even by them selves. Thanks Ishag Adam and Prabhakar Purushotaman. Regards

@Ziyad Abunada, Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your opinion. You very rightly pointed out the possible ways of treated and partially treated sewage waste in agriculture. Thanks

Sewage pollution in the Adyar estuary

The higher the sewage pollution, the higher is the proliferation of microorganisms such as algae that deplete oxygen, raising the BOD. The water sample also contained heavy metals including chromium, zinc, copper and iron.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/it-was-sewage-that-killed-the-fish/article6862999.ece

@ Krishnan Umachandran, Thanks for your kind participation and adding such an important article. Yes presence of microorganism increase the BOD of the sewage water. I appreciate the article

 Regards

Hi Friends I believe this question still deserve some more discussion. Waiting for that. Regards

Technically it is a water of bad quality. Without treating  and removing the harmful chemicals and metals  use of such water will always cause harm to humans and animals.

Worldwide, there are a number of concepts and visions, on what future cities could look like. So-called “Eco-Cities” or “Sustainable Cities” are presently amongst others planned for example in China (e.g. Dongtan) and in South Korea (e.g. Public Administration Town). Worldwide cities and districts have been developed or redeveloped using the concept

of sustainability as a leading design criteria. Curitiba (Brazil), the Solar City in Linz (Austria), the City of the Sun in Alkmaar (The Netherlands), Freiburg Vauban and Luebeck Flintenbreite (Germany) are only a few of many existing examples. Recently developed approaches such as “Eco-City movement”, “Sustainable Cities”, “Permacity”, “Ecological (or aquatic) Footprint of Cities”, “2000-Watt Society”, or the concept of “Environmentally Sound Technologies”

http://newurbanquestion.ifou.org/proceedings/4%20Urban%20Technologies%20and%20Sustainability/full%20papers/C006_schuetze_thorsten_rethinking%20sustainable%20sanitation%20for%20the%20urban%20environment_Reviewed.pdf

With outpacing urbanization and economic development, wastewater management is becoming an enormous challenge. Wastewater irrigation in the periurban areas can be a beneficial option and dynamic process for wastewater management. However, wastewater needs to be treated prior to use to protect the groundwater and ecosystems, and reduce other downstream impacts.

A serious national attention is the only way to use such water after proper treatment.It is very sad no such attention is seen. Even the Ganga water pollution has remained an enormous challenge. Lets hope someday we wake up to take things seriously to protect our health issues.Right now it is in disarray.

Dear Sir @Dilip Kumar Pal Yes it is a water of bad quality but for farmers it is a black gold. They are using it so wisely that they even do not require any fertilizers for various vegetable crops. Even for cereals they use it with good quality waters and reduce there fertilizer demand significantly. Thanks 

 @Krishnan Umachandran; Can we have the concept of waste water friendly city, Of course they have to develop like Eco City or Sustainable City concept because it is a need of hour and one has to follow it. Thanks for such an wonderful thought. regards

 @YOGESH CHANDRA TRIPATHI ji; Yes Professor you are right, it should be used only after treatment, but in our Indian condition size of cities are swelling and volume of waste waters are increasing like anything. Total treatment seems to be not possible. In those conditions only peri-urban agriculture is place where these waters could be utilized productively. Again norms are there but who follow. Still a big question.

@Sarwan Kumar Dubey, Ye,farmers view it as 'Black Gold' . WW containing heavy metals and pathogens cannot be used directly though! This is very alarming situation, I think. Once the quantity of WW is much greater to be treated, there should be other options and recycling schemes. Minimum treatment is a MUST! There is a huge concern regarding crop's consumers (people, animals..). I am not sure about the Indian case and the area you are talking about. However, def. there should be a minimum treatment before disposal (i.e.) to water bodies, back for GW recharge, or any elsewhere. The ecological system is in danger, I am afraid.

Yes it is a good  idea to  include their view 

In countries where conventional waste water treatment is not possible due to limited municipal/governmental resources, and small, old or non-extendable sewage systems. As the WHO microbiological guidelines assume certain levels of waste water treatment, their enforcement in situations without any realistic option for treatment would prevent

hundreds or thousands of farmers from irrigating along polluted streams and would put their livelihoods at risk.

https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/35531/1/127428.pdf

Without treating and processing of city waste sewage water is harmful not only for agriculture, but also for human beings and animals.

Better separate the chemicals, metals, and other harmful elements before use of  waste sewage water.

Wastewater reuse for agriculture is sensitive to soil and crop type. Better wastewater management had the potential to increase returns of wastewater agriculture because of lower expenses incurred on fertilizers. Although a huge potential exists for wastewater reuse in agriculture, its effectiveness as an adaptation pathway may depend on critical aspects of local farming practices, market conditions, crop varieties and implementation of cost-effective treatment measures that facilitate wastewater reuse.

Dear  YOGESH CHANDRA TRIPATHI 

I think  this matter needs extensive work-up

I think it is important to put into perspective what we still must know on the impacts of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, that are present in sewage sludge. Research is still at an early stage (only 20 years old) and much has to be known on the cocktail effects of different pharmaceuticals on soils and plants. This is only my opinion, but we must integrate this radical uncertainty, and wonder if we are really in a circular economy when recycling sewage sludge in agriculture.