Irri-Alt’Eau – recycled water management strategy as a local water source for grapevine drip irrigation

Abstract

The Mediterranean Basin is marked by a strong pressure on water resources, which could reach a critical threshold with the increase of the demand and the decrease of its availability, both linked to the population growth and climate change. However, the reuse of treated wastewater (REUSE), internationally used and recognized practice over the last decade, is still little developed and known in France. Irri-Alt’Eau R&D program is the first “Field-experimental and pedagogic platform” on REUSE and grapevine drip irrigation management. The aim is to assess the impacts of such practice on the integrated system wine-grapevine-groundwater-soil-water. This project demonstrates the technical feasibility of the REUSE, at the level of the water tertiary treatment, the same as the reasoned water use for the grapevine micro-irrigation and the quality control at the point of use according to the current regulations. From the acquired microbiological and physico-chemical parameters, neither disadvantage nor change associated to the REUSE practice was observed on the short-term on the considered integrated system. During the three years of research (2013-2015), the nutritional status of plant and the composition of wine and fruit showed more sensibility to the vintage than to the quality of the supplied water. However, the guarantees of the long-term impacts, from the transfer and intensification of this practice, will depend on weather conditions and on the application of directives accompanying the regulations relative to the reuse of treated wastewater. Up to now Irri-Alt’Eau program continues through the Irri-Alt’Eau Observatory, as a reference site, in order to pursue the collection and structuration of data on the REUSE.