Constructed wetland system is a natural purifying procedure of management and disposal of water and wastewater by means of Ecological Engineering Technology. Neither additional chemical agent nor mechanical equipments and electrical power are needed in the procedure of water quality purifying. It is also a potential Ecological Engineering Technology with advantages of low-cost, easy operation and management, and easy construction. However, the limitation of this technology is the requirement of larger land space for wetland construction. Taiwan features in a subtropical climate, moderate water temperature, abundant sunlight, so its environmental condition is a good fit for constructed wetland technology, which has been verified by numerous pilot and field scales studies in recent years. Due to the necessity of large land space, it is impossible to apply it in the urban environment that is densely populated. In the rural area of Taiwan, however, with the industry development or industry moving outside, there appears a lot of fallow lands, idle lying factories. Moreover, the undeveloped construction of sewage work in Taiwan (especially in rural areas) results from inadequate construction expenditure supported by government, while discharge raw sewage in urban causes water pollution and water shortage. Hence, if we could establish constructed wetlands in the programmed proper places (such as presumptive address in parks or low-rent fallow lands), less construction expenditure could be used to construct sewage work and to protect water resource. After the proper programming and management, constructed wetland has multiple functions such as sightseeing, recreation, and ecology education. In order to explore the possibility of domestic wastewater disposal by constructed wetlands, the research adopted three ecological engineering treatment systems: Erhang constructed wetland system, Gangwei constructed wetland system, and Dajia soil filtration system. In this study, the treatment efficiencies and effectiveness of water quality improvement via these three systems were investigated. Results from the monitoring results of the influents and effluents of these systems were evaluated. In the Erhang constructed wetland, results were collected from July 2004 to October 2005. During this investigation period, the average flow rate was 52 CMD, and the observed biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal efficiency and removal rate were 72¡Ó22¢H and 1.68¡Ó1.12 kg/day, respectively. In the Gangwei constructed wetland, results were collected from July 2004 to May 2006. During this investigation period, the average flow rate was 61.6 CMD, and the observed BOD removal efficiency and removal rate were 33¡Ó40¢H and 0.14¡Ó0.19 kg/day, respectively. In the Dajia constructed wetland, results were collected from July 2004 to May 2006. During this investigation period, the average flow rate was 21.92 CMD, and the observed BOD removal efficiency and removal rate were 79¡Ó16¢H and 0.9¡Ó0.5 kg/day, respectively. Results from this study indicate that the three systems could effectively remove the main pollutants in inflow water and the treated water is able to meet the discharged standards. Thus, the constructed wetland scheme has the potential to be developed into an environmentally and economically acceptable domestic wastewater treatment technology. Results from this study will be useful to assist environmental professionals in designing a scale-up system for future application.

In north central Texas, USA, free-water surface wetlands have been constructed to treat pre-treated wastewater effluent from the Trinity River. Water quality and vegetation data from the first two years of operation (June 2003 to May 2005) were used to determine cell-to-cell and system-wide removal efficiency of total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN). The wetland system consisted of one non-vegetated sedimentation basin and a series of four connected, vegetated wetland cells. Temporal analyses displayed varying monthly, seasonal and yearly trends of the wetlands’ concentration of the three parameters. Spatial analysis results confirmed that TSS, TP and TN concentrations were greater at the beginning of the system as compared to the end of the wetland system. Percent reduction analyses showed that the second wetland cell (WC2) was the most efficient in TSS, TP and TN removal, while the last wetland cell (WC4) had the lowest reduction of the three parameters. TSS removal was significant (α = 0.05) moving consecutively among the sites in the wetland system, with exception to the last wetland cell. TP removal was only significant (α = 0.05) moving from the third wetland cell (WC3) to WC4, while TN removal was significant (α = 0.05) moving from the sedimentation basin to the first wetland cell (WC1) and then again moving from WC3 to WC4. Overall removal efficiency of the wetland system (from the Trinity River to WC4) was quite high, with reductions over 97% for TSS, 47% for TP and 67% for TN. N:P ratios decreased moving consecutively throughout the field-scale wetlands. Vegetation analyses found WCs 1 and 3 to contain the greatest vegetation species richness, while WC2 had the lowest richness. The vegetative composition of the four cells was mostly the same. A comparison was conducted between the nutrient reduction efficiency and vegetation data of this wetland system with data from a pilotscale wetland system that was operated from 1992 to 2000. The findings of this study suggest that during the first two years of operation, the wetland system’s performance is comparable to the pilot-scale wetlands which were operated for eight years.

Growth room experiments were conducted to examine terrestrial and wetland-based phytoremediation approaches as alternatives to biosolids management. Results from both experiments show that biosolids do not need to be amended with soil to encourage plant growth and optimize biomass yields. In the terrestrial phytoremediation approach, two harvests per growth cycle produced greater switchgrass biomass yield than a single harvest but had no significant effect on cattail biomass yield during the first cycle. Repeated harvesting also significantly increased mean nutrient uptake in Cycle 1, reflecting the greater biomass yield from two harvests compared with a single harvest. In the wetland experiment, nutrient phytoextraction under two harvests was 4.25% of initial N content and 2.28% of initial P content compared with 2.9% and 1.58%, respectively, under a single harvest. Terrestrial phytoremediation could be beneficial to small communities that cannot afford the costly excavation, trucking, and eventual spreading of biosolids on agricultural land.

Constructed wetland treatment systems are environmental-friendly and economic technologies for wastewater treatments. The Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area Administration collected the wastewaters from the salty water aquacultural ponds and community households in the adjacent areas and discharged them into salty water type of constructed wetland treatment systems, which is quite rare in Taiwan presently. According to the surveying result of water quality in these constructed wetland treatment systems in previous study, we found that some species of macroalgae Gracilaria, were existed in some units of the wetland systems. Further, we found that the wastewater treatment efficiencies of the constructed wetland systems could be substantially enhanced by the macroalgae. Reviewing some literatures also confirmed that the macroalgae, Gracilaria, can be effectively applied to aquaculture wastewater treatment because it is able to absorb the nutrients and benefits its own growth. Besides, it can reduce the algal bloom caused by excess nutrients. In this study, we explored the macroalgae Gracilaria¡¦s role in those saline constructed wetland wastewater treatment systems. In the laboratory scale study, a constructed wetland model tank was designed to culture Gracilaria as a way to explore the situation of wastewater treatment. The experimental results showed that when cultured in the still water system, the macroalgae, Gracilaria, was able to increase both of the levels of dissolved oxygen and pH in wastewater. Moreover, when it was cultured in its biomass density of 10 g/L for 4 days, the removal efficiency of chlorophyll-a concentration could ideally reach to 79.10 ¡Ó 7.62 %, while the total nitrogen, and total phosphorus could reach to 47.10 ¡Ó 25.93 % and 60.49 ¡Ó 45.29 % respectively. However, the reduction of ammonia nitrogen concentration was found rather obvious only one day after culture. Whereas, when the species of Gracilaria was cultured in the continuous flow system, we found that there were significant difference in the test result of the turbidity, chlorophyll-a, and BOD in the experimental group with addition of Gracilaria. After testing the concentrutions of chlorophyll-a over a long period of time, we found that the chlorophyll-a concentration were markedly increased when Gracilaria was not added. On the contrary, the chlorophyll-a concentration was remained stably when Gracilaria was added. When it comes to the nitrogen removal, we found that the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen in the experimental group could reach up to 92.27 ¡Ó 3.82 % in average. Other than that, it was found obvious decrease of the ammonia nitrogen concentration on the first day of culture. As to the test of soil¡¦s impact on the phosphorus removal, we found that the removal efficiency in the experimental group was higher than the group without soil. Therefore, the removal efficiency was found obviously higher when there was soil. In the continuous flow system, when the species of Gracilaria was added, the removal efficiency of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the model tank could reach averagely up to 75.23 ¡Ó 2.46 % and 53.96 ¡Ó 11.18 %, respectively. Comparing the experimental results by growth of Gracilaria for water quality with laboratory study and the saline constructed wetland systems in the Dapeng Bay, we found that the removal efficiencies of contaminants and nutrients could be enhanced by Gracilaria.

<p> As highway runoff is one major source of non-point pollution in urban areas, removal of contaminants in runoff should be of great concern. In this paper, the necessity of highway runoff treatment in Shanghai was approved, systemic comparisons between runoff treatments were listed, detailed discussions on treatment approach selection were given based upon the availability of land. Three design models for highway runoff treatment were proposed; one focused on the urban highway, one focused on the suburb highway, and the third focused on the urban-suburb area. A survey among scientists studying runoff in China showed that the use of constructed wetlands was a remedy that was highly approved. They also supported the establishment of an urban runoff database. This paper will assist in the development of suitable treatment strategies for highway runoff in urban areas in China.</p>

As highway runoff is one major source of non-point pollution in urban areas, removal of contaminants in runoff should be of great concern. In this paper, the necessity of highway runoff treatment in Shanghai was approved, systemic comparisons between runoff treatments were listed, detailed discussions on treatment approach selection were given based upon the availability of land. Three design models for highway runoff treatment were proposed; one focused on the urban highway, one focused on the suburb highway, and the third focused on the urban-suburb area. A survey among scientists studying runoff in China showed that the use of constructed wetlands was a remedy that was highly approved. They also supported the establishment of an urban runoff database. This paper will assist in the development of suitable treatment strategies for highway runoff in urban areas in China.

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Eutrophication, caused by phosphorus and nitrogen overloading, is a global pollution problem for our fresh water lakes and streams. Regulatory bodies have developed treatment guidelines for point-source pollution to address this concern, creating a need for small and remote waste producers to develop low cost solutions for nutrient removal – in particular phosphorus. Constructed wetlands have often been implemented as a low cost alternative to treat various sources of wastewater, however, their efficiency in removing phosphorus has been questioned. Post-treatment blast furnace slag filters (known to have a high phosphorus sorption capacity) have been in operation since 2008 in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada, treating aquaculture wastewater following treatment by a constructed wetland. Phosphorus removal performance of three filters of varying configuration have been assessed: • a random packed filter, packed randomly with unsieved blast furnace slag removed only 26% of phosphorus overall and became severely clogged likely due to the presence of fines, poor flow distribution and formation of calcium carbonate precipitate; • a screen filter, designed as twenty individual filters separated by 3 inches of space to provide more uniform flow throughout removed 55% of the total phosphorus added and maintained a uniform flow throughout the study; and • an anaerobic filter, designed to be sealed from the atmosphere in an effort to prevent the formation of calcium carbonate and subsequent filter clogging, removed 19% of the total phosphorus added and revealed signs of poor flow distribution. Lab-scale flow through cells were designed to parallel the field scale studies and were operated at varying configuration, temperature and residence times to assess these factor effects on phosphorus removal. The results of this research provide a valuable contribution to research involving blast furnace slag filters for phosphorus removal. It has been demonstrated that cold temperatures reduce the slag filter’s efficiency to remove phosphorus (but cold-climate filters can still be effective in removing phosphorus), the removal of slag fines reduces the potential for slag clogging, a screen design is effective in promoting uniform flow and offsetting the effects of clogging and an optimum residence time may exist for phosphorus removal beyond which phosphorus removal is minimal. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-23 21:46:44.136

Conscious governments in the developing countries try to keep abreast of developments, by offering better services to their citizens; one of the important services is to preserve the natural water resources. Implementation of constructed wetlands part of sustainable water resource management and ecosystem is a new approach for water treatment and biological disposal of contaminants, therefore families can contribute to these treatments through the use this system in their houses.  In order to meet the demand of daily water consumption by separating greywater from wastewater and for its reuse after treatment constructed wetland systems are one of the successful ecological treatments to reduce the concentration of pollutants in greywater. In view of the acute water crisis supply in Iraq, the best solution found for covering the daily consumption of householders is to apply the constructed wetland for treatment of greywater. The implementation of green roofs technique is one of the best ways to intercept rainwater. Especially in Iraq, where this technique can be used to provide thermal insulation, and an appropriate environment, to use the roofs for sleeping at night in the summer season.

A system with the combination of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and constructed wetlands (CWLs) has not yet been applied for cleaning river water polluted by sewage and swine wastewater. In this study, a pilot system with an UASB reactor (effective working volume 2.5 liters) combined with two CWL reactors (effective working volumes 54.4 and 80 liters for CWL-1 and CWL-2, respectively) was used to test the feasibility for treating wastewater samples prepared by mixing 1 volume of sewage and 1 volume of partially-treated swine wastewater. In the system, the UASB reactor was seeded with an anaerobic sludge for sewage treatment and CWL-1 and CWL-2 were planted with emergent macrophyte (reed, Phragmites australis L.) and floating macrophyte (Pistia stratiotes L.), respectively. Effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the test wastewater in the UASB reactor on the removal efficacy of various pollutants were tested. HRTs of 6, 4, and 2 hours were set for the UASB for the first, second, and third experimental phases, respectively. The tested influent wastewater had the following properties (unit in mg/L and the number in parentheses indicates the average value): total CODt 64-332 (179), soluble CODS 28-267 (129), soluble BODS 8-120 (70), SS 110-1330 (372), NH3-N 20-99 (48), NO3--N 1.2-11.9 (2.7), NO2--N 0-3.4 (1.0), total nitrogen TN 24.3-95.7 (56.8), PO43--P 0-10.4 (2.9), total phosphorus TP 5.1-52.1 (23.9), Cu 0.0-0.41 (0.13), Zn 0.05-0.73 (0.27), DO 0.2-2.7 (0.7), and pH 6.9-7.7 (7.4). Effluents from the UASB reactor for the third phase test had average values of CODt 55, CODS 40, BODS 27, SS 93, NH3-N 42, NO3--N 2.6, NO2--N 0.5, TN 43.7, PO43--P 0.9, TP 17.2, Cu 0.08, Zn 0.07, DO 0.04, and pH 7.4. For the phase, effluents from the combined UASB-CWL1-CWL2 system had average values of CODt 21, CODS 16, BODS 10, SS 38, NH3-N 2, NO3--N 1.9, NO2--N 0.1, TN 11.3, PO43--P 2.6, TP 5.9, Cu 0.06, Zn 0.05, DO 5.4, and pH 7.6. The system has been shown to be economically and technically feasible for cleaning the test wastewater.