Summary

Utilizing treated domestic wastewater to grow forage crops is becoming commonplace in regions that cannot release effluent into oceans or rivers.  A key concern when using disinfected secondary treated water is nitrogen percolating below the root zone and reaching the groundwater. A 2,000-acre wastewater reuse site with 27 center pivots in Palmdale, California is being utilized by the County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County to reuse approximately 8 to 9 million gallons per day of treated wastewater from the city of Palmdale. Through the development of a daily soil water/nitrogen balance model, combined with an overall cropping and monitoring strategy, the nitrogen deep percolation has been minimized throughout the reuse area to levels that are below Regional Board requirements.