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

Abstract

Treatment wetlands (TWs) are a technology applied worldwide. Free water surface wetlands (FWSWs) are a good option in Argentina, where large areas are available in the factory facilities. We studied FWSWs for the effluent treatment of two metallurgical industries for more than 15 years. A hybrid wetland (HW) composed by a FWSW and a horizontal subsurface wetland (HSSW) was designed for the treatment of sanitary effluents from a pet care center. Landfill leachate was treated comparing different HW configurations (vertical flow wetland-VFW+HSSFW with VFW+FWSW). Two HW configurations (HSSFW-FWSW and FWSW-HSSFW) for the final effluent treatment from a fertilizer factory was compared. The efficiency of FWSWs and HSSFWs in the treatment of recycled paper industry effluents was also compared. FWSWs showed similar or higher performances than the other types of TWs in the removal of metals, P and N compounds, COD and BOD. The results of the aforementioned cases are presented.