© IWA 1 st International Symposium on Water and Wastewater Technologies in Ancient Civilizations, Iraklio, Greece, 28-30 October 2006 Evolution of Land Treatment Practice for the Management of Wastes V. E. Tzanakakis, N.V., Paranychianakis, and A.N. Angelakis National Agric. Res. Foundation, Inst. of Iraklio, 71307 Iraklio, Greece, nvpar@her.forthnet.gr Abstract: “Land treatment” refers to the application of wastewater to the soil to achieve treatment and to meet irrigation needs of the vegetation. Application of wastewater to the land was the first practice used to protect public health and control environmental pollution and has gone through different stages of development with time. Currently, its application has been expanded for the treatment of various types of wastewaters including dairy, meat, industrial effluents as well as and polluted water sources. It is recognized as the ideal technology for rural communities, clusters of homes and small industrial units due to low energy demands and low operation and maintenance costs. A brief historical overview along with an introduction to the fundamental processes the current trends and the future prospects are provided in this section. Keywords: History of land treatment; sewage farms; wastewater management; sanitation. Introduction Land treatment is defined as “the controlled application of partially treated wastewater onto land to achieve treatment and disposal goals in a cost-effective manner” (Crites et al., 2000). Land application is the oldest practice used to manage wastewater and control environmental pollution. Land treatment systems have a long history as evidenced by the elaborate sewerage systems associated with ancient palaces and cities of the Minoan Civilizations. Indications for disposal of wastewater in agricultural land extend back approximately 4500years ( Asano and Levine, 1996; Angelakis and Spyridakis, 1996; Angelakis et al., 2005). With the progress of the time the land treatment has gone through different stages of development but the basic principles regarding planning, operation and management practices were developed after 1850 when the “sewage farms” were expanded in Europe and USA in an effort to control pollution and protect public health (US. EPA, 1979). The development of conventional wastewater treatment technologies in the turn of 19 th century resulted in a decline of land treatment systems (Reed et al., 1995), but the interest was renewed after the passage of Clean Water Act in 1972 (PL 92 500) and particularly the last two decades (Paranychianakis et al., 2006). This is mainly due to the low construction, operation and maintenance costs, making this technology suitable for small communities or decentralized clusters of homes, institutions and isolated industrial units (Crites and Tchobanoglous, 1998; Angelakis, 2001). Different types of land treatment systems were developed through the passage of time depending on the rate of applied hydraulic load, the presence or absence of vegetation, the needs for preapplication treatment and the intended level of treatment. These include: a) Slow Rate systems which utilize soil matrix for treatment and the applied load is based on vegetation water requirements; Overland Flow which utilize soil surface and vegetation for treatment and the treated wastewater is collected