Water scarcity, the degradation of freshwater resources, and wastewater pollution are reaching crisis levels, especially in arid
regions of the world. The reuse of wastewater was investigated by using intermittent media infiltration (IMI) to evaluate fecal
coliform (FC) removal efficiency. Twelve IMI columns were packed with soil and natural filtering materials (sand, zeolite,
vermicompost and charcoal) at percentages of 25, 50 and 75. The municipal wastewater was treated for the FC analysis for four
weeks. The chemistry, physics, and morphology of the filter media as related to FC reduction were determined and characterized.
Fine particle size and adsorption capacity are important factors for retaining FCs. The mixture of clay soil and filter media in a
ratio of 75/25 gave the best performance for FC removal, and the average FC reductions for sand, zeolite, vermicompost and
charcoal were 94.4%, 82.2%, 93.8% and 99.6%, respectively. The IMI of soil/charcoal gave a higher log removal (2.19-2.46 log)
than the other media, and the effluent complied with Mexican regulations for unrestricted agricultural irrigation. These results
showed good performance for FC removal and strengthened the possibility of using reclaimed municipal wastewater in
unrestricted irrigation.