Abstract
A study was performed to examine the effects of reclaimed-water irrigation on microorganism con-centration in ponded-water of paddy rice plots. Several treatments were used and each one was triplicated to evaluate the change of indicator microorganisms (total coliforms (TC), fecal coliforms FC), and E. coli) concentrations in 2003 and 2004 growing seasons. Their concentrations increased significantly right after irrigation, but decreased about $45\%$ in 24 hours. It implies that agricultural activities such as plowing and fertilizing should be practiced one or two days after irrigation considering health-risks. Treatments with UV-disinfected water irrigation demonstrated significantly lower concentrations than others including control plots where natural surface water was irrigated. The monitoring results from actual paddy rice fields and experimental paddy plots showed that concentrations of indicator microorganisms ranged from $10^2\;to\;10^5$ MPN/100mL. A comprehensive assessment of existing agricultural practices and a thorough monitoring in the field as well as treatment-plots are recommended to make more realistic national guidelines more applicable. UV-disinfected water irrigation reduced microorganism concentrations in paddy fields down to below the concentration of conventional paddy rice culture, and is thought to be an effective and feasible measure fur agricultural reuse of secondary effluent.
