Coliforms carriage by nematodes in agricultural crop fields irrigated with fresh and recycled water

Shortage of fresh water in many countries, particularly in semiand arid regions, has led farmers to increasingly utilize recycled water for irrigation of agricultural crop fields. For example, in Israel about 67% of wastewater is recycled and used for irrigation, in India 25% and in South Africa 24% of waste water is recycled (Gijzen, 2000). Studies on the nutritional value of reclaimed water have demonstrated their capacity to promote crop yields (Gori et al., 2000; Ouazzani et al.1996). Nevertheless, treated effluents have been shown to contain pathogenic microorganisms (Bitton et al., 1984), which resist disinfection in the treatment plants apparently due to the presence of high organic load (Chang, 1961; Ding et al., 1995). ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 7 (2014) pp. 73-82 http://www.ijcmas.com