Applications of constructed wetlands
Constructed wetlands were born for the treatment of domestic and urban wastewater from small and medium size settlements. Thanks to the advance from the Scientific Community, constructed wetlands widen the fields of application to different types of wastewater. A not exhaustive list of most relevant constructed wetland application fields is following reported:
More information
After activated sludge systems, constructed wetlands are worldwide one of the most used techniques for the treatment of domestic and municipal wastewater; CW was largely used for treatment of wastewater from small settlements, even if are often adopted also for town below 5000 PE. If the land availability is not an issue, CW can be proposed also for a bigger town, as shown by the CW WWTP of Orhei (designed by IRIDRA) treating up to 20,000 PE.
Thanks to intense research activity, CW can be now used for a wide spectrum of applications: from agro-farm factories (e.g. wineries and dairies) to livestock, from stormwater runoff to nutrient removal, as well as a number of other industrial wastewater. For instance, a not exhaustive list of CW application for industrial wastewater treatment was done by Vymazal (2014) and is following reported.
Wastewater type |
Type of CW | Location | Treatment efficiency (%) |
Refinery | HF, FWS, HF + FWS, VF, FWS+HF, FWS+VF | Sud Africa, USA, China, Hungary, Canada, UK, Taiwan |
BOD 50-99 COD 30-93 TSS 44-95 TN 19-80 TP 43-68 Benzene 65-87 |
Pulp and paper | HF, FWS | USA, China, Kenya, India |
BOD 6-90 TSS 33-84 NH4-N 31-88 TP 14-54 |
Tannery | FWS, HF, VF-HF-VF | Turkey, Portugal, Tanzania, Bangladesh |
COD 30-98 BOD 48-98 TSS 55-72 TKN 25-75 TP 98 |
Textile | HF, VF, VF-HF | Australia, UK, Tanzania, Portugal, Slovenia, Japan, Italy |
COD 64-72 BOD 66 TSS 93 colore 72-90 |
Acquaculture | HF, FWS, HF-VF, FWS-HF, VF-HF | USA, Canada, Taiwan, Germany, Australia, China, Vietnam |
BOD 24-99 COD 26-99 TSS 39-97 TN 21-96 TP 17-87 |
Winery | HF, VF, HF-FWS, VF-HF-FWS, VF-HF | USA, Germany, France, Italy, South Africa, Spain |
BOD 70-99 COD 49-98 TSS 30-91 TN 58-90 TP 60-79 |
Distillery | HF | India, Mexico, UK |
BOD 84-85 COD 64-80 TKN 59-75 TP 79 |
Brewery | FWS, HF | USA, South Africa |
COD 20 NH4-N 80 |
Abattoir | HF, FWS, VF-HF | Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Lithuania, Polland |
BOD 77-98 COD 65-98 TSS 44-99 TN 30-74 TP 37-79 |
Dairy/cheese | HF, HF-VF, VF-VF-HF-VF, VF-HF | Denmark, New Zealand, USA, Germany, Italy, France, Lithuania, Japan |
BOD 34-98 COD 92-97 TSS 40-96 TN 44-89 TP 30-88 TP |
Olive mill |
VF, FWS | Turkey, Greece |
COD 73-86 TSS 90 TKN 75-83 TP 83 |
Fish/Seafood |
HF, FWS | USA, Thailand |
BOD 91-99 TSS 52-90 TN 72-92 TP 72-77 |
Sugar industry | FWS, VF | USA, UK, Kenya, Thailand |
BOD 89-96 COD 68-87 TSS 64-93 TN 80 TP 21-76 |
Potato industry |
HF, FWS-VF-FWS, VF-HF-VF | Netherlands, USA, Japan |
COD 11-94 TSS 83 TN 54-90 TP 83 |
Mixed food |
HF | Slovenia, Italy |
BOD 89 COD 90-92 TSS 81 |
Laundry | HF | Italy, India, UK, Spain, Australia, Thailand |
BOD 61-89 COD 90-92 LAS 43-99 |
Chemical industris |
HF, VF | UK, Portugal |
Aniline 99 Nitrobenzene 98 Sulphanic acid 99 Trinitrophenol >99 |
Mixed industrial |
FWS-HF, FWS, VF-HF-VF | China, Taiwan, Pakistan, Slovenia |
BOD 66-89 COD 61-81 TSS 81-89 TP 35-62 |
Explosices | FWS, FWS-HF | USA |
TNT 79 2.4DNT 58 2.6DNT 61 |
Steel industry |
HF, VF | Taiwan, China |
COD 50-77, TP 6-93 Fe 94-97 Mn 81-93 |
Woodwaste | FWS | Canada |
BOD 60 COD 6-50 VFA 35-69 tannini/lignina 1-42 |
Coke plant effluent |
HF | France |
COD 32-52 TSS 94-96 TN 37 |
Coal gasification | FWS | USA |
Se 64 As 47 B 31 |
Example of CW for industrial wastewater treatment. (Vymazal 2014)
References
IRIDRA's authors are highlighted in bold.
Vymazal, J. (2014). Constructed wetlands for treatment of industrial wastewaters: a review. Ecological Engineering, 73, 724-751.
Wu S., Wallace S., Brix H., Kuschk P., Kipkemoi Kirui W., Masi F., Dong R., Treatment of industrial effluents in constructed wetlands: Challenges, operational strategies and overall performance, Environmental Pollution, 201, 107–120, 2015.
Wu S., Wallace S., Brix H., Kuschk P., Kipkemoi Kirui W., Masi F., Dong R., Treatment of industrial effluents in constructed wetlands: Challenges, operational strategies and overall performance, Environmental Pollution, 201, 107–120, 2015.