Aquaculture with treated wastewater : a status report on studies conducted in Lima, Peru

APPLIED RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (WUDAT)-TECHNICAL NOTE NO. 3 INTEGRATED RESOURCE RECOVERY PROJECT 1-ouaculture With Tre ate -I Wastewater: A STATUS REPORT ON STUDIES CONDUCTED IN LIMA, PERU Compiled and Edited by Sandra Johnson Cointreau /1 VT THE WORLD BANK-WATER SUPPLY AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT UE T A Joint United Nations Development Programme and World Bank Contribution to the T International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade  INTEGRATED RESOURCE RECOVERY REPORT SERIES GLO/84/007 A series of reports are being prepared by the Resource Recovery Project as part of a global effort to realize the goal of the United Nations International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, which is to extend domestic and community water supply and sanitation services throughout the developing world during 1981 to 1990. The project objective is to improve urban waste management and encourage resource recovery as a means of offsetting some of the costs of community sanitation. Volumes published to date include: No. 1 Recycling from Municipal Refuse: A State-of-the-Art Review and Annotated Bibliography (World Bank Technical Paper No. 30) by S. Cointreau et al. No. 2 Remanufacturing: The Experience of the United States and Implications for Developing Countries (World Bank Technical Paper No. 31) by R.T. Lund. No. 3 Aquaculture: A Component of Low Cost Sanitation Technology (World Bank Technical Paper No. 36) by P. Edwards. No. 4 Municipal Waste Processing in Europe: A Status Report on Selected Materials and Energy Recovery Projects (World Bank Technical Paper No. 37) by J.G. Abert. No. 5 Anaerobic Digestion: Principles and Practices for Biogas Systems (World Bank Technical Paper No. 49) by C.G. Gunnerson and D.C Stuckey et al. No. 6 Wastewater Irrigation in Developing Countries: Health Effects and Technical Solutions (World Bank Technical Paper No. 51) by H. Shuval et al. Forthcoming: No. 7 Co-Composting of Domestic Solid and Human Wastes by L. Obeng and F. Wright. No. 8 Wastewater Management for Coastal Cities: Ocean Disposal Technologies by C. G. Gunnerson et al. In addition to the above, an informal Technical Note Series is also being initiated with the publication of this document. The purpose of this new series is to provide wid'er and quicker distribution of the interim results of ongoing projects, and to initiate an exchange of views on the subject matter.  APPLIED RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (WUDAT)-TECHNICAL NOTE NO. 3 INTEGRATED RESOURCE RECOVERY PROJECT Ki-auaculture With Treated Wastewater: A STATUS REPORT ON STUDIES CONDUCTED IN LIMA, PERU Compiled and Edited by Sandra Johnson Cointreau contributors Carl Bartone, Julio Moscoso Hugo Nava Cueto, Norma Noe Mocetti assisted by Balfour Hepher, Netty Buras, Maria Lusia de Esparza Carmen Vargas de Mayo, Elena Gil Merino, Raul Porturas Manual Tantalean Vidaurre, Sonia Calle Espinoza Maria Teresa Amaya Arroyo, Tila Luna, Mercedes Carrasco VI THE WORLD BANK-WATER SUPPLY AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT UT NI A Joint United Nations Development Programme and World Bank Contribution to the E NInternational Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade  Copyright 0 1987 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington, D.C. 20433, USA All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America This is a document published informally by the World Bank, as a joint contribution with the United Nations Development Programme to the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. This note was origi'nally prepared as an internal discussion document. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the United Nations Development Programme or the World Bank, to their affiliated organizations, or to any individual acting on their behalf.  - iii - ABSTRACT Fish culture is one means of producing a large amount of protein material in a relatively small amount of space. This study has shown that significant quantities of protein for either human consumption or livestock feed could be produced from wastewater-based aquaculture, which could be integrated with sewage stabilization lagoon systems. Reuse of treated sewage to fertilize the mizrobial food chain for aquaculture presents one of the most economic resource recovery options for cities in developing countries. Wastewater-based fish and prawn culture research, development, and demonstra- tion efforts were conducted in Lima, Peru, through the sponsorship of the UNDP/World Bank Integrated Resource Recovery Project and the GTZ, the agency through which the Federal Republic of Germany provides technical assistance to developing countries. Fish and prawns were cultured in wastewater stabilization lagoons operating as polishing lagoons in series with primary and secondary ponds. Some of the fish ponds were operated as batch-type (receiving make-up water only) rather than flow-through ponds. The fish fed on the natural food chain fertilized by the nutrients in the treated wastewater; no supplemental feed was added. The hypothesis being tested was that fish and prawns would grow in wastewater-based ponds and be acceptable for human consumption either directly or indirectly (for example, fish may be used as a protein source for livestock or a second generation of fish ponds). It was found that the environmental conditions in the ponds were satisfactory for the survival and growth of tilapia and carps, particularly in the cycle-end polishing ponds. Although the prawns grew satisfactorily, they did not survive unanticipated large fluctuations in water quality due to shock loadings, which may be common under uncontrolled conditions. The experience in Lima (and at other sites discussed in the literature) indicates that ammonia is a key water quality constraint for fish growth and production, and that total ammonia should not exceed 2.0 mg-N/l. Raw fish examined in this study had no parasites on the gills or skin, or in the muscle. Furthermore, the bacteria load of the muscle portion of raw fish was acceptable for human consumption. However, higher bacteria levels within the digestive tract and peritoneal fluid could lead to conta- mination of food preparation areas during fish cleaning. Experiments in processing the fish through salting and smoking showed promise as a means of minimizing public health risks to consumers. Indirect consumption through crushing the fish and disbursing them to other fish ponds or for use as live- stock feed has not been tested. A demonstration project, where missing parameters will be verified, that is expected to verify aquaculture yield results and elaborate on the health and economic aspects of this study will soon follow.  PREFACE More and more people in developing and industrial countries alike are recognizing the need for technical and economic efficiency in the allocation and utilization of resources. Resource recovery and recyling provide develop- ing countries with a means of optimizing the use of indigenous natural resources, reducing the need for imports and thus conserving foreign exchange, increasing local employment opportunities, and developing industrialization skills. In 1981, a global research, development, and demonstration project on integrated resource recovery (GLO/84/007, formerly GLO/80/004) was undertaken by the World Bank as executing agency for the United Nations Development Programme (Division of Global and Interregional Projects). The goals of the project are to achieve economic and environmental benefits through sustainable and replicable resource recovery and recyling of liquid and solid wastes from municipal and commercial sources. A major goal of the project is to develop and encourage resource recovery as a means of offsetting some of the costs of community sanitation, which may account for more than 50% of total expenditures. Aquaculture in higher-level wastewater treatment (polishing) lagoons offers one method of partially or totally offsetting these costs. This would not only make it possible to achieve high quality standards for effluent discharge for environ- mental improvement but woi.Ld also ernhance the opportunities for effluent reuse. This note documents research, development, and demonstration studies on fish and prawn culture conducted at the San Juan Lagoons in Lima, Peru. Potential public health risks of fish consumption were examined through micro- biological analyses of both raw and processed fish. Financial support was provided by the United Nations Development Programme, Global and Interregional Projects Division. Additional financial support came from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). An international group of experts as well as a group of Peruvian scientists have participated in the research, advising, monitoring, or analysis. Most of their names appear on the title page of this document, however, the list does not include many others who took part in the project. We are grateful to them all. Your comments on this note would be welcome, and we would be grateful to receive any case study information from which future editions of the resource recovery series could benefit. Please send your comments to Applied Research and Technology Unit, Water Supply and Urban Development Department, World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, USA. S. Arlosoroff Chief (WUDAT) and UNDP Projects Manager (WUD) The World Bank  - vii - CONTRIBUTORS This note was compiled and edited by Sandra Johnson Cointreau, a consultant to the World Bank, who was responsible for coordinating the studies in Lima. The text is largely gleaned from the reports of the Lima researchers: Carl Bartone, Maria Lusia de Esparza, and Carmen Vargas de Mayo, Centro Panamericano de Ingenieria Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente (CEPIS), who provided water quality monitoring and sanitary engineering technical assistance to secure relatively steady-state conditions within the ponds for aquaculture; Julio C. Moscoso, Hugo Nava Cueto, Elena Gil Merino, and Raul Porturas, Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA), who studied fish culture and fish processing, as well as the microbiology of processed fish; Norma Noe Moccetti, Manuel Tantalean Vidaurre, Sonia Calle Espinoza, and Maria Teresa Amaya Arroyo, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Centro de Investigacion Instituto Vete- rinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura (USM/IVITA), who examined bacteria and parasites in raw fish and prawns, as well as parasites in pond sediment; and Tula Luna and Mercedes Carrasco, Instituto de Investi- gacion Tecnologica Industrial y de Normas Tecnicas (ITINTEC), who investigated mesophilic batch digestion of animal manure and collaboration with UNA for special fish culture of tilapia in concrete tanks. To assist the local research scientists, the UNDP/World Bank Integrated Resource Recovery Project arranged for expert consultants Balfour Hepher and Netty Buras to provide regularly scheduled technical assistance on fish culture and epidemiology, respectively. Alejandro Vinces, Luis C. Carrillo Macedo, and Javier R. Seminario, Progratn de Proteccion Ambiental y Ecologia Urbana, Ministerio de Vivienda y Construccion, coordinated the daily activities of the various research groups participating in the project. They were also responsible for operating and maintaining the San Juan lagoons in accordance with water quality information obtained and technical assistance provided by CEPIS.  - viii - S. Arlosoroff, Project Manager, and Charles G. Gunnerson, then Senior Project Officer, of the UNDP/World Bank Global Project on Integrated Resource Recovery (GLO/80/004) conceived and directed the overall Lima waste-fed aquaculture program. Mr. Klaus Kresse, Chief of Special Studies, Water Supply and Sanitation of the German Technical Cooperation' Agency (GTZ), participated in directing the second phase of the studies. Eric Perrin, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Lima, helped to obtain the initial government approval for research and thereafter assisted with the administration of research contracts. In March 1985, the GTZ sponsored an Expert Panel Meeting of special- ists to examine Phases I and II of the Lima fish culture studies and recommend a plan for a possible Phase III: Balfour Hepher (Israel, fish culture using wastewater), Netty Buras (United States, epidemiology of waste-fed fish culture), Roger Pullin (the Philippines, fish genetics and fish culture), Peter Edwards (Thailand, fish culture using human wastes), Dhrubajyoti Ghosh (India, traditional fish culture using wastewater), and Hans Schlotfeldt (Germany, epidemiology of fisheries).  ix - CONTENTS Page No. List of Tables .......................................................... ix List of Figures............................................................ x 1. BACKGROUID ON WASTE-BASED AQUACULTURE.................................1 2. THE CITY OF LIMA ......................................................3 Setting ................................................... 3 History of Developments ......................................... 4 3. THE WASTEWATER STABILIZATION SYSTEMS IN LIMA .........................8 Structure ....................................................... 8 Study Methods and Measurements................................... 8 Pond Management ............................................ 8 Selection of Species ...................................... 11 Stocking., ................................................ 12 Flows ..................................................... 13 Environmental Observations ................................13 Water Quality Measurements ................................13 Sediment Quality Measurements ............................. 14 Primary Productivity Measurements ......................... 17 Aquaculture Evaluation Techniques ......................... 17 Harvesting ................................................ 17 Food Processing .......................................... 18 Bacteria Measurements ......................................18 Parasite Measurements .....................................l19 Fish Toxicology Measurements.... .........................l19 4. FINDINGS .......................................................... 21 Hydraulic and Loadings ...............................21 Physical-Chemical Water Quality................................ 21 Microbiological Water Quality ..................................28 (Continued)  Page No. Sediment Quality ............................................ 29 Aquaculture Results .......................................... 39 Fish Microbiological Assessment .................................,45 Toxicological Assessment ..................................... 47 5. CONCLUSIONS .........................................................49 6. RECOMKENDATIONS ..................................................... 51 REFERENCES .............................................................. 54  - xi - LIST OF TABLES Page No. Table 1. Components of the Experimental Program and Analytical Techniques ................................ 15 Table 2. Preservation of Samples and Sample Holding .................... 16 Table 3. Hydraulic and Organic Loads on Ponds ......................... 22 Table 4. Environmental Conditions in Aquaculture Ponds: Averages of Daily Samples .................................. 24 Table 5. Range and Averages for Physical and Chemical Parameters of Aquaculture Ponds Recorded in Phase I ........ 25 Table 6. Range and Averages for Physical and Chemical Parameters of Aquaculture Ponds Recorded in Phase II .......26 Table 7. Environmental Conditions iri Ponds: Average of Weekly Samples .......................................... 27 Table 8. Frequency of Positive Identification of Enteric Protozoa and Helminths ......................................31 Table 9. Frequency of Positive Identification of Salmonella Serotype ................................................... 37 Table 10. Summary of Measurements and Calculated Parameters per Controls and Final in the Monoculture of Tilapia in Phase I ..........................................40 Table 11. Summary of Growth Data in Prawn Assays, Phase I ..............41 Table 12. Summary of Measurements and Calculated Parameters per Controls and Final in the Monoculture of Tilapia, Phase II ...........................................43 Table 13. Summary of Measurements and Calculated Parameters per Controls in 1;he Polyculture of Carps and Tilapia in C-i Lagoon, Phase II ............................44 Table 14. Results of Analyses on Fish Muscle Sample .................... 48  LIST OF FIGURES Page No. Figure 1. Map of the San Juan Effluent Reuse Project Showing Cultivated Household Plots ......................... 5 Figure 2. Map of the San Juan Lagoons Showing Levels of Treatment Prior to the Aquaculture Studies .................. 9 Figure 3. Pond Arrangement During Aquaculture Studies .................. 10 Figure 4e Concentration Indicator Bacteria in Effluents, Series 1 .................................................. 30 Figure 5. Concentration of Indicator Bacteria in Effluents, Series 2 .................................................. 30 Figure 6. Total Coliforms in Pond Effluents and Sediments, Series 1 .................................................. 32 Figure 7. Total Coliforms in Pond Effluents and Sediments. Series 2 .................................................. 33 Figure 8. Fecal Coliforms in Pond Effluents and Sediments, Series 1 ................................................... 34 Figure 9. Fecal Colifoems in Pond Effluents and Sediments, Series 2 .................................................. 35 Figure 10. Salmonella sp. Concentration in Pond Effluents and Sediments .............................................36 Figure 11. SPC in Pond Effluents and Sediments .........................38  Chapter 1 BACKGROUND ON WASTE-BASED AQUACULTURE Fish culture is one means of producing a large amount of protein material in a relatively small amount of space. Economic benefits from fish culture are usually higher than those from traditional agricultural crops. Fine-grained organic matter added to fish ponds provides a suspended attach- ment surface and food supply for bacteria and protozoa. These microorganisms also take up nutrients from the water. After they build up their protein-rich cell mass, they serve as food for fish. Other organisms, such as phyto- plankton and zooplankton, benefit from the growth of bacteria and protozoa, and in turn serve as fish food (9, Hepher). One of the richest, yet cheapest, sources of organic matter is human excreta. Whether fish ponds receive human excreta directly or through sewage influent, traditional systems and special demonstration facilities indicate high fish yields. In India, for example, production rates from fish ponds utilizing wastewater have ranged from 3 to 9 tonnes/ha/year (9, Hepher). Poor people -n the cities of developing countries have traditionally found ways to conserve resources and recycle wastes as one means of carving out their livelihood. For example, poor urban dwellers on the fringe of Calcutta have been using sewage to enhance fish culture since the turn of the century. The ratio of sewage to water there is about 5:1 (15). There are presently about 4.5 thousand hectares of sewage-based fish ponds surrounding Calcutta -- stocked mainly with carp and tilapia, which supply an annual harvest of abouc 6,000 tonnes (18). Direct uue of night soil to fertilize fish ponds has been more fully practiced in China than anywhere else. In fact, in 1966, 90 percent of the excreta generated in the country was applied to agricultural lands and fish ponds. In Taiwan there are several thousand hectares of fish ponds receiving excreta. A significant portion of the fish ponds in Indonesia have over- hanging latrines that directly discharge excreta into the underlying waters (15). The polyculture of carp, tilapia, and mullet fish in wastewater treatment ponds has been practiced in Israeli kibbutzim. Fish are often allowed to rest in clean water for several weeks to help depurate them before consumption. Because of the concern over public health risks, Israel now allows only polishing ponds or freshwater ponds receiving secondary-level treatment effluents to be used for fish culture (15). Studies in Israel have shown that adding wastewater to fish ponds can markedly increase fish feed utilization and fish yield -- which rose as much as 75 percent in one set of experiments (22). In Germany, several hundred hectares of fish ponds (mostly stocked with carp) receive sewage that has been partly treated in sedimentation tanks  and then diluted with relatively fresh water (15). Fish yields from the wastewater-fed ponds are reportedly much higher than those from regular ponds in the region (22). Despite the efforts that have already gone into promoting waste-based aquaculture, much more remains to be done, as indicated recently by a panel of internationally recognized experts who were asked to examine the global state of knowledge on waste-based aquaculture. They pointed out that while there has been extensive exper'ence in Asia (mainly in China, Indonesia, Vietnam and others) on use of human excreta in fish ponds and, to a much less widespread extent, on fish culture in sewage in India, most of the experience has been devoid of data generation and scientific examination. Data generated have largely been from traditional systems without flexibility to experimentally adjust and examine variables, replicate studies, and thereby obtain reasonable confidence in the results. Significant studies have been done primarily in Israel, Thailand, and now Peru to examine individual growth rates, pond yields, and public health consequences of sewage-based fish culture under various comparable experimental configurations. In Thailand, comparable studies have been done to examine excreta-fed fish culture systems. These studies are essential to the eventual formulation of design standards and monitoring criteria for waste reuse (21).  -3- Chapter 2 THE CITY OF LIMA SETTING Lima, the capital of Peru, is located on the Pacific Coast of South America. It has a moderate climate, but receives little rain, although there is often a mist in the morning. Cloud cover prevails during most of the winter months (July through September). Aside from three small river basins that cut through Lima (Rio Rimac, Rio Lurin, and Rio Chillon), the city rests on desert land. Groundwater is deep and fairly well contained by overlying sandy soils interspersed with layers of impermeable clay soils. The regional groundwater flow is from the Andes Mountains westerly to the Pacific Ocean. The city has a population of about 5 million, of which roughly 50 percent are recent rural immigrants living in precarious housing with limited access roads. About 65 percent of the houses have access to water supply and sewerage or other sanitation infrastructure (8, 16). And about 60 percent of the city's refuse is collected (10). Epidemiological data indicate that the most common infectious diseases, in order of prevalence, are acute diarrhea (primarily rotovirus, enterotoxigenic and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, and Campylobacter), typhoid and paratyphoid fever, intestinal parasite afflictions (primarily ascariasis and giardiasis), and viral hepatitis (8, 35). Acute diarrheal diseases amon3 infants represent the leading cause of chiLd mortality in Peru, and the typhoid and paratyphoid fever rate there is the highest in Latin America (6). The above-mentioned diseases are believed to be transmitted prin- cipally through the consumption of food and water that has been contaminated by excreta (17). These diseases account for nearly 50 percent of the total number of illness cases in Lima (35). Contamination occurs through numerous channels, most notably via raw vegetables that have been irrigated with untreated wastewater, inadequate sanitation, pigs raised at clandestille refuse dumps, and flies that have been in contact with exposed refuse heaps (10). It is estimated that some 80 percent of the wastewater from cities in developing countries is being used raw or partially treated for irrigation (33). With Lima's high rate of population growth and the lack of rainfall in the region, the city's underlying groundwater supply has dropped considerably. Thus potable water is precious and reuse is the norm. Since much of the reuse is uncontrolled and includes numerous taps on the city's raw sewerage system (10), measures to provide wastewater treatment prior to reuse could go a long way toward reducing public health risks from excreta-related infectious diseases.  -4- HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENTS The concept of full-scale reuse of treated wastewater has been steadily developing in Lima for more than two decades -- beginning in 1959 with a presentation of how to treat Lima's wastewater in stabilization lagoons by Alejandro Vinces, formerly President of the Parks Service (SERPAR), to the National Congress of Sanitary Engineering. Beginning in 1961, SERPAR supervised the development of 21 stabilization lagoons in San Juan de Miraflores, a municipality in the southern zone of Lima's metropolitan area (6). Supreme Decree No. 105-67-DGS of 1967 authorized SERPAR to create foreitland by irrigation with treated effluent from the San Juan lagoons (36). More than 500 ha of land (most of which was desert, and part of which was closed sanitary landfill) are presently being irrigated with effluents from the San Juan lagoons -- of which about 1,280 ha consist of woodland and 220 agricultural land, with another 1,300 ha being planned for greenbelts with low irrigation requirements (6). Il-lot plots of various fruits (e.g., pine- apples and papaya), vegetables (e.g., corn and platanos), and flowers (e.g., roses and hibiscus) have been created on-site (10, 36). Part of the irrigated land is farmed by 16 families who have set up irrigation systems to use the partially treated wastewater to grow cow fodder and vegetables (6). Figure 1 shows the location of plots cultivated by these families, as well as larger plots cultivated by agricultural cooperatives. The movement toward wastewater reuse has been paralleled by a growing concern about air pollution and the need to preserve greenbelts of forestland to filter and oxygenate the air (36). Air pollution, coupled with cool damp climatic conditions during many months of the year, lowers human resistance to respiratory infections. A review of Peru Ministry of Health statistics shows that tuberculosis and other respiratory infections are among the 10 leading causes of morbidity in Lima and constitute about 20 percent of the total number of cases of disease reported there (35). As a step toward improving environmental quality, Legislative Decree No. 143 of 1981 created the Program of Environmental Protection and Urban Ecology to authorize the cultivation and preservation of greenbelts (36). Research and development studies have been an integral part of SERPAR's efforts to promote wastewater reuse. With local funding as well as external support from the International Development Research Center -- Canada (IDRC) and the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO), CEPIS has studied the mechanisms of treatment occurring in the lagoons and the levels of water quality achievable through various sequences of lagoons and periods of retention (6, 37, 38, 39). A special multisectoral commission formed in Lima in 1973 has been investigating the possibility of using a 5,000-ha site (called San Bartolo) south of Lima for the full-scale demonstration of wastewater reuse (figure 1). In 1980, a mission from Israel established the prefeasibility of irrigation with treated wastewater at San Bartolo. In 1981, SERPAR engaged  Desoueci '~ 0.~N0 0 k