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Constructed wetlands for the treatment of organic pollutants

  • Review Article with Case Studies
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

Constructed wetlands (wetland treatment systems) are wetlands designed to improve water quality. They use the same processes that occur in natural wetlands but have the flexibility of being constructed. As in natural wetlands vegetation, soil and hydrology are the major components. Different soil types and plant species are used in constructed wetlands. Regarding hydrology surface flow and subsurface flow constructed wetlands are the main types. Subsurface flow constructed wetlands are further subdivided into horizontal or vertical flow. Many constructed wetlands deal with domestic wastewater where BOD and COD (Biochemical and Chemical Oxygen Demand respectively) are used as a sum parameter for organic matter. However, also special organic compounds can be removed.

Objective

The objectives are to summarise the state-of-the-art on constructed wetlands for treatment of specific organic compounds, to the present the lack of knowledge, and to derive future research needs.

Methods

Case studies in combination with a literature review are used to summarise the available knowledge on removal processes for specific organic compounds.

Results and Discussion

Case studies are presented for the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with aromatic organic compounds, and sulphonated anthraquinones, olive mill wastewater, landfill leachate, and groundwater contaminated with hydrocarbons, cyanides, chlorinated volatile organics, and explosives. In general the removal efficiency for organic contaminants is high in all presented studies.

Conclusion

Constructed wetlands are an effective and low cost way to treat water polluted with organic compounds. There is a lack of knowledge on the detailed removal pathways for most of the contaminants. Removal rates as well as optimal plant species are substance-specific, and also typically not available. If a constructed wetland provides different environmental conditions and uses different plant species the treatment efficiency can be improved.

Recommendations and Outlook

There is a great need to lighten the black box ‘constructed wetland’ to obtain performance data for both microbial activity and the contribution of the plants to the overall removal process. Also genetic modified plants should be considered to enhance the treatment performance of constructed wetlands for specific compounds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IWGA-SIG - Department for Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control, BOKU — University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Muthgasse 18, A-1190, Vienna, Austria

    Raimund Haberl & Günter Langergraber

  2. Dipartimento di Agrobiologica ed Agrochimica, Università della Tuscia, Via S. G. Decollato 1, 1-01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Stefano Grego

  3. University of Michigan and Wetland Management Services, Chelsea, Michigan, USA

    Robert H. Kadlec

  4. Dipartimento Biologica e Ambiente, ISRIM, 1-05100, Terni, Italy

    Anna-Rita Cicalini

  5. Instituto Superior Técnico, Centre for Biological and Chemical Engineering, P-1049-001 Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, Portugal

    Susete Martins Dias & Julio M. Novais

  6. Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology (LBE), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sylvie Aubert

  7. BioPlanta GmbH, Benndhorfer Landstrasse 2, D-04509, Delitzsch, Germany

    Andre Gerth, Hartmut Thomas & Anja Hebner

Authors
  1. Raimund Haberl
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  2. Stefano Grego
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  3. Günter Langergraber
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  4. Robert H. Kadlec
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  5. Anna-Rita Cicalini
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  6. Susete Martins Dias
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  7. Julio M. Novais
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  8. Sylvie Aubert
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  9. Andre Gerth
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  10. Hartmut Thomas
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  11. Anja Hebner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Günter Langergraber.

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Haberl, R., Grego, S., Langergraber, G. et al. Constructed wetlands for the treatment of organic pollutants. J Soils & Sediments 3, 109–124 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02991077

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02991077

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