Identification of determinant factors of irrigation using water wells and untreated wastewater among vegetable farmers in the Sanandaj County

Despite the fact that irrigation of agricultural products using untreated wastewater has unfavorable health and environmental consequences for the community, every day we see the spread of this phenomenon in the society. While there is little knowledge about factors affecting the use of this polluted water source by farmers. In this regard, the present study was conducted to distinguish users and non-users of untreated wastewater. For this purpose, 160 vegetable farmers in Sanandaj county were selected by stratified random sampling and interviewed using a questionnaire. Findings showed that farmers had high knowledge about raw wastewater quality. They also had an unfavorable attitude toward the health and social impacts of using untreated wastewater, and agreed to the non-ethical use of it in irrigation of products. The results of discriminant analysis indicated that six variables of knowledge, attitudes toward social impacts of untreated wastewater, drought perception, concern about global warming, attitude towards the health impacts of untreated wastewater and innovation, respectively, had the highest power in distinguishing well water users and untreated wastewater users. The results of this study can be used in policy making to reduce the use of untreated wastewater.