Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in cold climate--A review

Constructed wetlands（CWs） have been successfully used for treating various wastewaters for decades and have been identified as a sustainable wastewater management option worldwide.However,the application of CW for wastewater treatment in frigid climate presents special challenges.Wetland treatment of wastewater relies largely on biological processes,and reliable treatment is often a function of climate conditions.To date,the rate of adoption of wetland technology for wastewater treatment in cold regions has been slow and there are relatively few published reports on CW applications in cold climate.This paper therefore highlights the practice and applications of treatment wetlands in cold climate.A comprehensive review of the effectiveness of contaminant removal in different wetland systems including：（1） free water surface（FWS） CWs;（2） subsurface flow（SSF） CWs;and（3） hybrid wetland systems,is presented.The emphasis of this review is also placed on the influence of cold weather conditions on the removal efficacies of different contaminants.The strategies of wetland design and operation for performance intensification,such as the presence of plant,operational mode,effluent recirculation,artificial aeration and in-series design,which are crucial to achieve the sustainable treatment performance in cold climate,are also discussed.This study is conducive to further research for the understanding of CW design and treatment performance in cold climate.

Nitrogen mass balance in a constructed wetland treating piggery wastewater effluent

The nitrogen changes and the nitrogen mass balance in a free water surface flow constructed wetland （CW） using the four-year monitoring data from 2008 to 2012 were estimated. The CW was composed of six cells in series that include the first settling basin （Cell 1）, aeration pond （Cell 2）, deep marsh （Cell 3）, shallow marsh （Cell 4）, deep marsh （Cell 5） and final settling basin （Cell 6）. Analysis revealed that the NH4＋-N concentration decreased because of ammonification which was then followed by nitrification. The NO4＋-N and NO4＋-N were also further reduced by means of microbial activities and plant uptake during photosynthesis. The average nitrogen concentration at the influent was 37,819 kg/year and approximately 45% of that amount exited the CW in the effluent. The denitrification amounted to 34% of the net nitrogen input, whereas the accretion of sediment was only 7%. The biomass uptake of plants was able to retain only 1% of total nitrogen load. In order to improve the nutrient removal by plant uptake, plant coverage in four cells （i.e., Cells 1, 3, 4 and 5） could be increased.

Performance assessment and microbial diversity of two pilot scale multi-stage sub-surface flow constructed wetland systems

This study assessed the performance and diversity of microbial communities in multi-stage sub-surface flow constructed wetland systems（CWs）. Our aim was to assess the impact of configuration on treatment performance and microbial diversity in the systems. Results indicate that at loading rates up to 100 g BOD5/（m2·day）, similar treatment performances can be achieved using either a 3 or 4 stage configuration. In the case of phosphorus（P）, the impact of configuration was less obvious and a minimum of 80% P removal can be expected for loadings up to 10 g P/（m2·day） based on the performance results obtained within the first16 months of operation. Microbial analysis showed an increased bacterial diversity in stage four compared to the first stage. These results indicate that the design and configuration of multi-stage constructed wetland systems may have an impact on the treatment performance and the composition of the microbial community in the systems, and such knowledge can be used to improve their design and performance.