Constructed wetlands plant treatment system: An eco-sustainable phytotechnology for treatment and recycling of hazardous wastewater

MAINE, M. A.; HADAD, H.R.; SANCHEZ, G. C; MUFARREGE, M.M; DI LUCA, G. A; SCHIERANO, M.C.; NOCETTI, E; CAFFARATTI S.E; PEDRO M. C.

Phytoremediation technology for the removal of heavy metals and other contaminants from soil and water

Elsevier

Año: 2022; p. 481 - 495

Treatment wetlands (TWs) emulate simultaneous physical, chemical and biological processes that occur in natural wetlands for water depuration (Wu et al., 2018). TWs have significantly increased their application from traditional tertiary and secondary treatment of domestic sewage (Breitholtz et al., 2012; Wu et al., 2015) to treatment of various industrial effluents (Verlicchi and Zambello, 2014; Wu et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2014).In Latin America, TWs have been widely implemented for the depuration of sewage. In Argentina, this technology is still scarcely developed and unlike other countries in Latin America, TWs have been also implemented for the treatment of industrial effluents. Our research group has developed wetlands for the treatment of effluents from different industries: metallurgical industries, effluents of a pet care center of a pet food factory, a fertilizer factory, landfill leachate, recycled paper industry, dairy industry effluents, among others.Vymazal (2015), Wu et al. (2015) reviewed the knowledge about treatment of industrial effluents using TWs around the world. However, the cases are different and site specific. The implementation of a TW for the treatment of a specific effluent requires the selection of the type of TW to be used, the substrate, the macrophyte, etc. The type of TW should be selected not only according the contaminant to be removed, the volume to be treated, and the effluent matrix, but also by the geographic and economic conditions of the place where the TW has to be constructed. Free water surface wetlands (FWSWs) are a good option in Argentina since they have proven to be efficient in the removal of metals, P and N compounds, COD, and BOD (Maine et al., 2017, 2019) without energy consumption and low operating and maintenance costs. However, it is well known that for FWSWs a large area of land is required. Costs are limiting factors in Argentina, while the largest land area required for a FWSW is not a problem. Large land areas are generally available at the factory facilities. On the other hand, FWSWs have additional ecological benefits. The macrophyte diversity provide habitat for wildlife species, such as birds, ducks, geese, coots, coypus, lizards, capybaras, and turtles (Kadlec and Wallace, 2009).This chapter shows the performance of FWSWs in the treatment of different effluents and compares them with other types of TWs.