Water scarcity has become a critical problem in Europe. Although it affects all the economic sectors, water scarcity has a huge impact on agriculture as one of the main water consumers reaching 70-80 of water abstractions in Mediterranean regions. The increasing pressure on conventional water resources has led the agricultural sector to explore the use of alternative sources, such as treated wastewater, also called reclaimed water. Despite of the scarcity that suffers some areas in Europe and in Bulgaria in particular, the water reuse for irrigation is not currently a primary option. In present study we elaborated strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats/political, economic, social and technological (SWOT/PEST) analyses, describing internal and external factors that influence water reuse in Bulgaria. Reflecting on the idea of promoting wastewater reuse in agriculture, as a result of this study, we found more than 50 internal and external factors that influence the water reuse. The main conclusions were related to poor acceptance by society and decision makers, poor irrigation infrastructure, lack of incentives and specific legislation, risk in relation to food safety, but also the existence of good links between institutions, the presence of stakeholder cooperation, the existing access to knowledge.
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