Comparison of Crop Contamination by Microorganisms during Subsurface Drip and Furrow Irrigation
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 10
Abstract
This study was conducted to compare subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) with furrow irrigation (FI) in crop contamination with microbial-contaminated water irrigation. Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, and coliphage PRD-1 were added to water used to irrigate cantaloupe, lettuce, and bell pepper. Samples of produce, surface, and subsurface soil for each irrigation system were collected on Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 after the application of the study microorganisms. Overall, greater contamination of produce occurred in FI plots than in SDI plots. The microorganisms were detected on the surfaces of cantaloupe and lettuce, but were never recovered on the bell peppers. The greatest amount of contamination occurred with PRD-1 on cantaloupe. The study microorganisms survived longer in the subsurface soil than the soil surface. PRD-1 showed greater persistence than E. coli in soil, while C. perfringens experienced little inactivation during the experiment periods. This study showed that subsurface drip irrigation has great potential to reduce health risks when microbial-contaminated water is used for irrigation water.
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Acknowledgment
This work was supported by a CFSAN grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Grant No. FD-U-002109-01).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 10 • October 2006
Pages: 1243 - 1248
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 12, 2005
Accepted: Feb 26, 2006
Published online: Oct 1, 2006
Published in print: Oct 2006
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