Returns to municipalities from integrating crop production with wastewater disposal

Land application of wastewater provides an alternative for wastewater deposition which can be both environmentally sound and economically viable. Effluent from the wastewater system of the city of Lubbock, Texas, USA was used for crop irrigation as a study case. A dynamic optimization model was developed to determine the optimal cropping system that would utilize all the effluent supplied, remove all hazardous materials from the effluent, and maximize crop net revenues. The results indicate that the optimal crop composition contains alfalfa, wheat-corn, wheat-grain sorghum, and cotton. The study also reveals that increases of cropland area and effluent volume could increase municipal revenues