Impact Assessment of Pomegranate Cultivation Using Reclaimed Wastewater

The approval of national specific legislative acts and the subsequent elaboration of the regional WaterProtection Plans have raised attention on reclaimed wastewater as an abundant usable resource for irrigationor industrial purposes in the Apulia region. Among interesting cultivation pomegranate represent acommodity with niche market share among consumers paying attention to healthy way of life. In the presentpaper the objective of evaluating the environmental impact and nutritional efficiency of this resource wasachieved by comparing 3 treatment scenarios: a) Irrigation with conventional water and fertilization capableof satisfying 100% of the expected nutritional requirements; b) Irrigation with reclaimed urban wastewaterand fertilization capable of satisfying 100% of the expected nutritional requirements and c) Irrigation withrefined urban waste water and fertilization capable of satisfying 50% of the expected nutritionalrequirements. The methodology to evaluate the impact assessment was the Life Cycle Assessment. Findingsindicate the reclaimed wastewater scenario as the lowest impacting due to electricity consumption for thepumping system of the irrigation infrastructure of pomegranate. Fertirrigation of pomegranate usingreclaimed wastewater with 50% lower fertilization does not satisfy the nutrient needs and this supplementshould be commensurate to the reclaimed wastewater nutrient content. Results provide to stakeholders thesustainable decision support and this represent the practical implication of this study. Moreover the casestudy represents an original subject both for the crop, fertirrigation and the location choice of the cultivationand the methodology used.