Constructed Wetlands in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of Experiences during the Last Decade

Rodriguez-Dominguez, Marco Antonio; Konnerup, Dennis; Brix, Hans; Arias, Carlos A.

doi:10.3390/w12061744

Cited by 32 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 186 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…Finally, the use of TWs to treat wastewater have several advantages in comparison to traditional technologies such as activated sludge, namely comparatively low cost, easy operation and maintenance, and green areas that can contribute to biodiversity and ecosystem services and be easily integrated to the landscape, causing less of a visual impact. In addition, the ornamental plants such as Zantedeshia aethiopica, can enhance even more the aesthetics of the systems, especially considering their use in arid environments and the results of this work [2][3][4]19,47].…”

Section: Aridmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Treatment wetlands (TWs) are considered reliable wastewater treatment technology [1,2]. Among the different types of TWs, vertical subsurface flow (VSSF) is an alternative to traditional horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF), which is the most commonly used TW worldwide [3,4]. VSSF are becoming more common than HSSF because of their potential to cope with higher organic loadings (>6 g BOD 5 /(m 2 -d) [5]), capacity to nitrify (ammonium removal above 80% [6,7]), and smaller footprint demand (VSSF TWs, 2-4 m 2 /Inhab [5,8]; HSSF TWs, 5 m 2 /Inhab [9]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Performance Comparison of Vertical Flow Treatment Wetlands Planted with the Ornamental Plant Zantedeschia aethiopica Operated under Arid and Mediterranean Climate Conditions

Vera-Puerto

Escobar

Rebolledo

et al. 2021

Water

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This work compares the performance of vertical subsurface flow treatment wetlands (VSSF TWs) for wastewater treatment, planted with Zantedeschia aethiopica (Za), here operated simultaneously under two different climate conditions, arid and Mediterranean. The experimental setup was divided into two treatment lines for each climate condition: three VSSF TWs planted with Schoenplectus californicus (Sc) (VSSF-S), as the control, and three VSSF TWs planted with Zantedeschia aethiopica (Za) (VSSF-Z), as the experimental unit. The four treatment systems were operated at a hydraulic loading rate of 120 mm/d during spring and summer seasons, in two locations, Iquique (Atacama Desert, Chile) and Talca (Central Valley, Chile). The water quality in effluents, plant development, and water balance were used as performance measures. In terms of the water quality, the influents’ characteristics were similar in both climates and classified as “diluted”. For the effluents, in both climate conditions, average COD and TSS effluent concentrations were below 50 mg/L and 15 mg/L, respectively. In both climate conditions, average TN and TP effluent concentrations were below 40 mg/L and 2 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, only total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in effluents to VSSF-Z had a significant effect (p < 0.05) in relation to the climate condition. Regarding plant development, Za showed a lower height growth in both climate conditions, with arid consistently 0.3 m and Mediterranean decreasing from 0.6 m to 0.2 m. However, the physiological conditions of the leaves (measured by chlorophyll content) were not affected during operation time in both climates. Water balance showed that it was not influenced by the climate conditions or plant, with water loss differences below 5%. Therefore, taking into account the water quality and water balance results, Zantedeschia aethiopica can be used in VSSF TWs in a way similar to traditional plants under arid and Mediterranean climates. However, its use has to be carefully considered because lower height could affect the esthetics for its implementation in the VSSF TWs.

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Section: Aridmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Comparison of Vertical Flow Treatment Wetlands Planted with the Ornamental Plant Zantedeschia aethiopica Operated under Arid and Mediterranean Climate Conditions

Vera-Puerto

Escobar

Rebolledo

et al. 2021

Water

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show abstract

“…In countries where cost is one of the major factors, low-cost alternative technology is more suitable to be applied. For this purpose, constructed wetlands (CWs) are seen as a viable option for application in developing countries, particularly by small communities, because the CWs are characterized by relatively low costs in capital, operation, and maintenance cost [8], [9]. These CWs involve interconnection of wetland plants, soils, and microorganisms supporting the wastewater treatment [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of CWs for wastewater treatment has been becoming more popular in many developed countries. The CWs are also suitable for developing countries [8]. However, they still have to become better known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Stage in Designing Household Constructed Wetlands: Selection of a Suitable Aquatic Plant

Qomariyah¹,

Ramelan²,

Setyono³

et al. 2021

Int. J. Adv. Sci. Eng. Inf. Technol.

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Constructing centralized wastewater treatment plant systems to serve and control city sanitation requirements is vastly expensive in developing countries. Consequently, employing decentralized wastewater treatment systems through utilizing constructed wetlands (CWs) for individual households should be promoted. In this study, the most appropriate aquatic species planted in constructed wetlands were examined for treating greywater at the household level in humid tropical regions. Three different decorative aquatic plants (i.e., Echinodorus palaefolius, Typha latifolia, and Cyperus alternifolius) were compared based on their performances. Also, three similar wetlands having a total working volume of 158.42 liters with a gravel sand filter were used in this study. One day, a period was allocated for the hydraulic retention time (HRT), which corresponds to the applied hydraulic loading rate of 115.5-and 150.5-mm d -1 for the first and second experiments, respectively. The high percentage removal of 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5), along with an aesthetic green view and minimum maintenance of decorative plants, was employed as the selection criteria. Insitu measurements were also undertaken for pH, temperature, and total dissolved solids. The findings indicate that the most significant BOD5 removal was with the Cyperus alternifolius plants, which showed a very high BOD5 removal rate (91.18%). The Cyperus alternifolus species were more resistant in full direct sunlight conditions and adaptable to grow in temporarily or fully submerged conditions. These results, therefore, suggest that Cyperus alternifolius is the most suitable plant species for the treatment of greywater in household CWs in the tropics.

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“…Conversely, nature-based alternatives such as constructed wetlands (CWs), are often considered as lower efficiency OWTSs than the ATUs (Magar 2016). Consequently, the CWs are in most cases categorized as a 'polishing' processes associated with septic anaerobic systems; hence these units are used as the last step prior to the release of treated wastewater to the environment (Rodriguez-Dominguez et al 2020;Sylla 2020;Koottatep et al 2021).…”

Section: Graphical Abstract Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative life cycle assessment of aerobic treatment units and constructed wetlands as onsite wastewater treatment systems in Australia

Gongora

Hanandeh

2021

Water Science and Technology

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Life Cycle Assessment was used to evaluate onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS): aerobic treatment unit (ATU) with reinforced concrete (C.ATU) and HDPE (H.ATU) tank; and constructed wetland (CW) with three biochar concentrations in the substrate (0%; 10, and 20% v:v), dubbed CW.BC0, CW.BC10 and CW.BC20, respectively. CML 2001 in SimaPro® was used to evaluate the impacts of the treatment of 1 m3 wastewater. The OWTS were compared on their overall environmental performance scores (OEP). ATUs have higher impacts on human toxicity, eutrophication, freshwater and marine ecotoxicity. The CW.BC20 has the lowest global warming impact (GWP) while CW.BC0 has the highest. Electricity consumption was the largest contributor to the impacts of the ATUs. PVC pipes, coir peat, geomembrane, and electronic devices were the biggest contributors to the impacts of the CWs. The OEP of the CWs were almost a third of the ATUs’ (6.07E-03). Changes in electricity sources were tested according to the 2030-Australian targets; increasing renewables share improves the OEP of ATUs by 39%; nevertheless, CWs continue to outperform the ATUs. Variations in biochar biodegradation has small effect on the OEP of CWs; being relevant only to GWP. This study provides a reference to policy makers for better evaluation of OWTS.

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Constructed Wetlands in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of Experiences during the Last Decade

Cited by 32 publications

References 186 publications

Performance Comparison of Vertical Flow Treatment Wetlands Planted with the Ornamental Plant Zantedeschia aethiopica Operated under Arid and Mediterranean Climate Conditions

Performance Comparison of Vertical Flow Treatment Wetlands Planted with the Ornamental Plant Zantedeschia aethiopica Operated under Arid and Mediterranean Climate Conditions

Initial Stage in Designing Household Constructed Wetlands: Selection of a Suitable Aquatic Plant

Comparative life cycle assessment of aerobic treatment units and constructed wetlands as onsite wastewater treatment systems in Australia

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