The wastewater recharge occurs regardless of whether the urban area is served primarily by:
● on-site sanitation facilities, with direct soil discharge on a diffuse basis via septic tanks and latrines
● sewerage systems, with effluent discharge downstream of the urban center and reuse for irrigation.
This note deals only with the latter situation. Acknowledging the potential benefits of wastewater
reuse for agricultural irrigation and aquifer recharge, the focus is on evaluating the consequences of
common practices of sewage handling and reuse in developing cities (Figure 1A) and on cost-effective
incremental approaches to reducing the groundwater pollution risk (Figure 1B).