FAO Guidelines for Water Reuse

Owing to rapid population growth and the need to irrigate more crops for food, it is estimated that more than 2 billion people are affected by a drinking water shortage. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed four volumes of guidelines to treat water for reuse as drinking water and in and food production.

Volume 1

• The guidelines in Volume 1 are for the policy and regulation development summarized from Volumes 2, 3, and 4. This volume is more for governments that quickly and efficiently need to take action in implementing safe drinking water by reuse.

Volume 2

• Volume 2 contains guidelines primarily focused on safety requirements for agricultural workers, consumers and communities that utilize agricultural wastewater. This volume establishes practices in microbial safety when handling wastewater and describes how health can be impacted by reusing wastewater for irrigating crops.

Volume 3

• Guidelines found in Volume 3 explain the hazards associated with using wastewater and waste matter in fish farming and freshwater plant farming. This volume covers topics such as health protection, pond design, and the impacts of using raw wastewater on food and in the environment.

Volume 4

• Volume 4 explains more of the importance of having an established authority to govern the reuse of wastewater. These guidelines describe measures needed to protect consumer health and the environment, as well as the need to implement a monitoring and evaluation system.