Assessment of the Effects of Ornamental Wetland Polyculture Combinations on Urban Sewage Treatment

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that wetland plants can treat wastewater in a cost-effective and sustainable way, however, the studies on the performance of ornamental wetland plant diversity in treating urban sewage were scarce. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess and select wetland polyculture combination that was effective in urban sewage treatment in subtropical areas. We formed five combinations out of six ornamental wetland plant species including Thalia dealbata, Cyperus alternifolius, Iris pseudacorus, Lythrum sastlicaria, Nymphaea tetragona, and Zantedeschia aethiopica. The growth state and removal effects of each plant combination were systematically measured and assessed. The results indicated all the combinations exhibited remarkable total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), ammonium nitrogen (NH­4+-N), and chemical oxygen demand chromium (CODcr) removal rate of 70.75%-77.67%, 63.86%-73.71%, 69.73%-76.85%, and 57.28%-75.69%, respectively. Additionally, pH was reduced to 7.54-8.00 in the sewage. The purification effect reached the best during 30-36th day. The comprehensive assessment showed the mixture of Thalia dealbata + Cyperus alternifolius, closely followed by Thalia dealbata + Cyperus alternifolius+ Lythrum sastlicaria, was highly effective at extracting various pollutants, and both of them could be used as favorable combinations to convert eutrophication and purify municipal wastewater. Linear regression showed that TP, TP, NH­4+-N, and CODcr. were significantly related to plant biomass, indicating that plant biomass essential indicator for screening purification plants. Our study highlighted the importance of plant diversity in biological wastewater treatment, however the competition between plants was suggested to take into consideration in future studies.