Purification of Livestock Wastewater by a Constructed Wetland and Physiological Responses of Wetland Plants to Wastewater Stressors

Abstract

A wetland containing canna, calamus, wild water chestnut and Hydrilla verticillata was constructed to measure wastewater purification efficiency and effects of livestock wastewater on the physiology of the wetland plants. The results showed that the highest removal efficiencies of the same three contaminants among all four wastewater concentration treatments were 96.42%, 91.09%, 79.07% respectively. Tolerance of livestock wastewater was greatest for canna, followed by calamus, and then wild water chestnut, whereas Hydrilla verticillata was least tolerant of the livestock wastewater treatments.