Artificial recharge of Mornag aquifer (Tunisia) with reclaimed wastewater for irrigation purposes

摘要

In semi-arid regions where the high water stress will increase with climatic change, reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation is a major challenge. Tunisia has experienced treated wastewater reuse for irrigation over the past decades, however with poor success due to a series of reasons, amongst which the fear of unreliable quality of the treated effluent. Indirect wastewater reuse techniques are now developing across the world, one of those being the artificial recharge of aquifers with treated wastewater for irrigation purposes. The case of Mornag irrigated areas, in the suburbs of Greater Tunis, is presented in the paper. Treated wastewater reuse would represent a strategic opportunity to fight the ongoing aquifer depletion. However major bottlenecks have to be removed to make the project feasible, including (i) willingness of farmers to cooperate, (ii) physical aptitude of soils and aquifers for artificial recharge, (iii) reliability of the treated effluent quality control process, (iv) institutional capacity building for regulation enforcement and monitoring.