TABLE OF CONTENTS The level of preapplication treatment needed prior to any of the land treatment processes should be an engineering decision that recognizes the sequence of components as an integrated approach. A rational approach would be to start with the final effluent or percolate quality requirements, then determine what contribution the land treatment processes can provide, and then adopt a level of preapplication treatment for those constituents that will not be removed or reduced to an acceptable concentration by the land treatment process. The method of preapplication treatment should then be selected as the simplest and most cost-effective system possible. Unfortunately, some regulatory agencies still arbitrarily specify both the level and the method of preapplication treatment.
The level of preapplication treatment required should also be based on either the degree of public access to the site or the type and end use of the crop grown. The guidelines for preapplication treatment developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are summarized in Table 8.1. The level of treatment required increases as the degree of public access increases and when the end use of the crop involves direct human consumption. The bacterial standards are based on water quality requirements for irrigation with surface water and on bathing water quality limits for the recreational case.1
| I. | Slow Rate Systems |
| A. | Primary treatment acceptable for isolated locations with restricted public access and when limited to crops not for direct human consumption |
| B. |
