Performance of a subsurface-flow constructed wetland in Southern China

The operational performance of a full scale subsurface flow constructed wetland, which treated the mixed industrial and domestic wastewater with BOD 5/COD mean ratio of 0 33 at Shatian, Shenzhen City was studied. The constructed wetland system consists of screens, sump, pumping station, and primary settling basin, facultative pond, first stage wetland and secondary stage wetland. The designed treatment capacity is 5000 m 3/d, and the actual influent flow is in the range of <2000 to >10000 m 3/d. Under normal operational conditions, the final effluent quality well met the National Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard(GB 8978\_1996), with the following parameters(mean values): COD 33 90 mg/L, BOD 5 7.65 mg/L, TSS 7.92 mg/L, TN 9.11 mg/L and TP 0 56 mg/L. Seven species of plants were selected to grow in the wetland: Reed, Sweetcane flower Silvergrass, Great Bulrush, Powdery Thalia and Canna of three colours. The growing season is a whole year round. The seasonal discrepancy could be observed and the plants growing in the wetland are vulnerable to lower temperature in winter. The recycling of the effluent in the first stage of the wetland system is an effective measure to improve the performance of the wetland system. The insufficient DO value in the wetland system not only had significant effect on pollutants removal in the wetland, but also was unfavourable to plant growth. The recycling of effluent to the inlet of wetland system and artificial pond to increase DO value of influent to the wetland is key to operate the subsurface constructed wetland steadily and effectively.

Modeling on Residence Time Distribution in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands by Multi Flow Dispersion Model

As an important design factor for constructed wetlands,hydraulic retention time and its distribution will affect the treatment performance.Instantaneously injected sodium chloride tracers were used to obtain residence time distributions of the lab scale subsurface flow constructed wetland.Considering the presence of trailing and multiple peaks of the tracer breakthrough curve,the multi flow dispersion model(MFDM)was used to fit the experimental tracer breakthrough curves.According to the residual sum of squares and comparison between the experimental values and simulated values of the tracer concentration,MFDM could fit the residence time distribution(RTD)curve satisfactorily,the results of which also reflected the layered structure of wetland cells,thus to give reference for application of MFDM to the same kind of subsurface flow constructed wetlands.

Study on Winter Operation Process of the Surface Flow Constructed Wetland in Tianjin Area

[Objective] The research aimed to study winter operation process of the surface flow constructed wetland in ＂rianjin area. [Method] In view of climate characteristics in Tianjin, by the way of running under the ice, winter operation experiment of the surface flow constructed wetland in Tianjin was conducted, with the expectation to get some useful process parameters to run such systems in North China in winter. [ Result] Although purification effect of the sewage by surface flow constructed wetland in winter was worse than that in other seasons （ average reduction of about 20%）, surface flow constructed wetland running under the ice was feasible in Tianjin area. When surface flow constructed wetland in North China ran under ice in winter, it was suggested that the outlet must be located in a low position to prevent to be completely frozen, and running water depth should not be less than 50 -60 cm. The hydraulic load could be raised on the basis of reflux, and hydraulic retention time should maintain less than 4 d to keep water-soil interface not freezing. Inlet water depth should be increased as much as possible to improve temperature in the system. V Conclusion1 The research could provide reference for promotion and application of the surface flow constructed wetland in North China.

Effect of Different Factors on Nitrogen Removal Rate in Constructed Wetlands

Factors affecting total nitrogen(TN) removal rates in constructed wetland were investigated by intermittent operation in the subsurface flow(SSF) constructed wetland system.The results demonstrated that removal rates of TN increased with the rising of TN pollution load(1.40-12.40 g/m2) when the retention time was determined by 60% TN removal efficiency(n=180,p<0.05) in SSF wetlands.The maximum TN removal rate was 1.71 g/(m2·d) in SSF Phragmites australis-soil-slag system.TN removal rates were affected by total phosphorus load in case of higher TN load.TN removal rates in SSF Phragmites australis wetlands were greater than that in SSF Calamagrostis angustifolia wetlands at the same experimental cycle.Effect of wetland substrates on TN removal rates varied with the pollutants loading in SSF constructed wetland system,plant species and plant-growing period.

Relationships between loading rates and nitrogen removal effectiveness in subsurface flow constructed wetlands

Nitrogen removal of wetlands under 40 differ-ent inflow loadings were studied in the field during 15months. The removal efficiency of four different sets ofbeds, namely the reed bed, the Zizania caduciflor bed, themixing planting bed, and the control bed were studied.The outflow loading and total nitrogen (TN) removal rateof these beds under different inflow loadings and pollutionloadings were investigated. The inflow loadings of 4 sub-surface flow systems (SFS) ranged from 400 to 8000 mg·(m^(2) ·d) 21 , while outflow loadings were less than 7000 mg·(m^(2) ·d) 21 . The results showed that the inflow and outflowloading of TN removal rate in SFS presented an obviouslinear relationship. The optical inflow loading to run thesystem was between 2000 to 4000 mg·(m^(2) ·d) 21 . Averageremoval rate was between 1062 and 2007 mg·(m^(2) ·d) 21 .SFS with plant had a better removal rate than the control.TN removal rates of the reed and Zizania caduciflora bedwere 63% and 27% higher than the control bed,respectively. The results regarding the TN absorption ofplants indicated that the absorption amount was verylimited, less than 5% of the total removal. It proved thatplants clearly increase TN removal rates by improving thewater flow, andincreasingthe biomass, as wellas activitiesof microorganisms around the roots. The researchprovided a perspective for understanding the TN removalmechanism and design for SFS.

Performance of pond–wetland complexes as a preliminary processor of drinking water sources

Shijiuyang Constructed Wetland（110 hm^2） is a drinking water source treatment wetland with primary structural units of ponds and plant-bed/ditch systems. The wetland can process about 250,000 tonnes of source water in the Xincheng River every day and supplies raw water for Shijiuyang Drinking Water Plant. Daily data for 28 months indicated that the major water quality indexes of source water had been improved by one grade. The percentage increase for dissolved oxygen and the removal rates of ammonia nitrogen, iron and manganese were 73.63%, 38.86%, 35.64%, and 22.14% respectively. The treatment performance weight of ponds and plant-bed/ditch systems was roughly equal but they treated different pollutants preferentially. Most water quality indexes had better treatment efficacy with increasing temperature and inlet concentrations. These results revealed that the pond–wetland complexes exhibited strong buffering capacity for source water quality improvement. The treatment cost of Shijiuyang Drinking Water Plant was reduced by about 30.3%. Regional rainfall significantly determined the external river water levels and adversely deteriorated the inlet water quality, thus suggesting that the ＂hidden＂ diffuse pollution in the multitudinous stream branches as well as their catchments should be the controlling emphases for river source water protection in the future. The combination of pond and plant-bed/ditch systems provides a successful paradigm for drinking water source pretreatment. Three other drinking water source treatment wetlands with ponds and plant-bed/ditch systems are in operation or construction in the stream networks of the Yangtze River Delta and more people will be benefited.