A new concept in constructed wetlands: assessment of aerobic electroconductive biofilters

Aguirre-Sierra, Arantxa; Gregoris, Tristano Bacchetti-De; Salas, Juan José Sendra; Deus, Andrés de; Esteve‐Núñez, Abraham

doi:10.1039/c9ew00696f

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…Precisely, the mixed aerobic-anaerobic nature of D1 removed 90% BOD 5 , while the purely aerobic D2 unit removed 94% of BOD 5 regarding the raw WW. The results were consistent with data obtained in previous studies of METland R configurations (Prado et al, 2019;Ramírez-Vargas et al, 2019), including those reported by Aguirre-Sierra et al (2020) with COD removal ranging from 82 to 99% in vertical down-flow configuration. The differences were possibly related with the higher oxygen availability due to the passive aeration of the downflow (D2) configuration.…”

Section: Effectiveness Analysissupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Thus, METland R is a term to denominate such general concept and it does not imply any specific operation mode. So, such systems can be operated either under flooded and anoxic mode (Aguirre-Sierra et al, 2016) or under downflow aerobic one (Aguirre-Sierra et al, 2020). Interestingly, bacteria from Geobacter genus were abundant as part of the electroactive biofilm regardless of the operation, anaerobic or aerobic (Aguirre-Sierra et al, 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing METland® Design and Performance Through LCA: Techno-Environmental Study With Multifunctional Unit Perspective

Peñacoba-Antona¹,

Senán-Salinas²,

Aguirre-Sierra³

et al. 2021

Front. Microbiol.

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Conventional wastewater treatment technologies are costly and energy demanding; such issues are especially remarkable when small communities have to clean up their pollutants. In response to these requirements, a new variety of nature-based solution, so-called METland®, has been recently develop by using concepts from Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (MET) to outperform classical constructed wetland regarding wastewater treatment. Thus, the current study evaluates two operation modes (aerobic and aerobic–anoxic) of a full-scale METland®, including a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted under a Net Environmental Balance perspective. Moreover, a combined technical and environmental analysis using a Net Eutrophication Balance (NEuB) focus concluded that the downflow (aerobic) mode achieved the highest removal rates for both organic pollutant and nitrogen, and it was revealed as the most environmentally friendly design. Actually, aerobic configuration outperformed anaero/aero-mixed mode in a fold-range from 9 to 30%. LCA was indeed recalculated under diverse Functional Units (FU) to determine the influence of each FU in the impacts. Furthermore, in comparison with constructed wetland, METland® showed a remarkable increase in wastewater treatment capacity per surface area (0.6 m2/pe) without using external energy. Specifically, these results suggest that aerobic–anoxic configuration could be more environmentally friendly under specific situations where high N removal is required. The removal rates achieved demonstrated a robust adaptation to influent variations, revealing a removal average of 92% of Biology Oxygen Demand (BOD), 90% of Total Suspended Solids (TSS), 40% of total nitrogen (TN), and 30% of total phosphorus (TP). Moreover, regarding the global warming category, the overall impact was 75% lower compared to other conventional treatments like activated sludge. In conclusion, the LCA revealed that METland® appears as ideal solution for rural areas, considering the low energy requirements and high efficiency to remove organic pollutants, nitrogen, and phosphates from urban wastewater.

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Section: Effectiveness Analysissupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing METland® Design and Performance Through LCA: Techno-Environmental Study With Multifunctional Unit Perspective

Peñacoba-Antona¹,

Senán-Salinas²,

Aguirre-Sierra³

et al. 2021

Front. Microbiol.

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“…Noteworthy, these wastewaters contained organic matter, while the system tested here was fully autotrophic. For instance, microbial electrochemical wetlands reached values below 15 gN·m −3 ·d −1 ( Aguirre-Sierra et al, 2020 , Xu et al, 2017 ). When a constructed wetland was coupled with a denitrifying MET, a maximum total nitrogen removal rate of 76 gN·m −3 ·d −1 was observed ( He et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…( Sleutels et al, 2012 ). However, the development of MET-based treatment concepts such as snorkels ( Hoareau et al, 2019 , Viggi et al, 2015 ) or METlands ( Aguirre-Sierra et al, 2020 , Prado et al, 2020 ) highlights the importance of the microbial ecology function over reactor materials and engineering ( Koch et al, 2018 ). In consequence, only two components might be needed to reach an improvement of bioremediation activities: the appropriate microbiome inhering electroactive microorganisms and a conductive support serving as electrode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrifying biotrickling filters for the treatment of aquaponics wastewater

Pous

Korth

Osset-Álvarez

et al. 2021

Bioresource Technology

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Highlights Non-conductive filling material brought insufficient and uncontrollable N removal. Polarized conductive filling material provided limited but controllable N removal. Mix of non-conductive and polarized conductive material were the most active. The electrified biotrickling filter met the N standards, closing aquaponics loop.

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“…The electron flow along the METland bed was demonstrated by measuring the profile of electric potential along long distances [ 13 , 14 ]. Although most of the MET-based applications are classically operated under anoxic conditions to avoid oxygen competition with anodic reactions, METland has been recently proved to be effective even under down-flow aerated mode [ 15 , 16 ] where nitrification reactions are favored. Full scale METland units have been already constructed at 0.4 m 2 per person equivalent and demonstrated to be sustainable according to a recent Life Cycle Analysis [ 16 ] using different electroconductive granular material like electroconductive coke [ 17 ] or more sustainable materials like electroconductive biochar (ec-biochar) obtained after wood pyrolysis at high temperature [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Criteria Evaluation and Sensitivity Analysis for the Optimal Location of Constructed Wetlands (METland) at Oceanic and Mediterranean Areas

Peñacoba-Antona

Delgado

Esteve‐Núñez

2021

IJERPH

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METland is a new variety of Constructed Wetland (CW) for treating wastewater where gravel is replaced by a biocompatible electroconductive material to stimulate the metabolism of electroactive bacteria. The system requires a remarkably low land footprint (0.4 m2/pe) compared to conventional CW, due to the high pollutant removal rate exhibited by such microorganisms. In order to predict the optimal locations for METland, a methodology based on Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques applied to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has been proposed. Seven criteria were evaluated and weighted in the context of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) was performed using the Sobol method for resource optimization. The model was tested in two locations, oceanic and Mediterranean, to prove its feasibility in different geographical, demographic and climate conditions. The GSA revealed as conclusion the most influential factors in the model: (i) land use, (ii) distance to population centers, and (iii) distance to river beds. Interestingly, the model could predict best suitable locations by reducing the number of analyzed factors to just such three key factors (responsible for 78% of the output variance). The proposed methodology will help decision-making stakeholders in implementing nature-based solutions, including constructed wetlands, for treating wastewater in rural areas.

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A new concept in constructed wetlands: assessment of aerobic electroconductive biofilters

Abstract: The METland® concept constitutes a hybrid concept for treating wastewater where microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) are integrated with constructed wetlands (CW) to enhance pollutant removal.

Cited by 23 publications

References 67 publications

Assessing METland® Design and Performance Through LCA: Techno-Environmental Study With Multifunctional Unit Perspective

Assessing METland® Design and Performance Through LCA: Techno-Environmental Study With Multifunctional Unit Perspective

Electrifying biotrickling filters for the treatment of aquaponics wastewater

Multi-Criteria Evaluation and Sensitivity Analysis for the Optimal Location of Constructed Wetlands (METland) at Oceanic and Mediterranean Areas

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