Page 29 - Council Journal Winter 2019

FEATURE Integrated Constructed Wetlands
Mutual Benefit: Why Wetlands
Could Be A Great Wastewater
Solution
The use of wetlands for wastewater treatment is not a new phenomenon but is one which is gathering increased momentum within the water industry due to the environmental benefits and the relatively low operations and maintenance requirements associated with these systems.
German research from 2010 reported that aquatic plants (macrophytes) were used in wastewater treatment
a lake or ocean, the delta at the mouth of a river or low-lying areas that frequently flood are all wetland areas. They contain plants and vegetation that thrive in the submerged or partially submerged conditions.
They are designed to control the flow direction, liquid retention time and water levels. After passing through the system the treated effluent is allowed to discharge safely into a receiving surface water or ground water.
experiments in Germany in the early 1950s. These manufactured or constructed wetlands have been developed in various forms across the globe with the common aim of harnessing nature’s ability to clean wastewater through the physical, chemical, biological and microbial processes contained within ‘Natural Wetlands’. This article offers a perspective on wastewater treatment in wetlands from an operations point of view.
The plants act as an impediment to flow and are sustained by nutrients from the soils and the water. Natural wetlands have been described as the kidneys of the landscape because of their ability to assimilate and treat water lost from the landscape before it enters into receiving waterways.
There is a wide variety of different types of constructed wetlands in use throughout the world but the systems used in Ireland can be categorised into two broad areas:
Natural wetlands are areas where land is covered by water, either saltwater, freshwater or a mixture of both. Marshes and ponds, the edge of
• Integrated Constructed Wetlands.
Constructed wetlands are artificial wastewater treatment systems consisting of shallow vegetated ponds planted with aquatic plants with the purpose of treating wastewater by means of natural physical, chemical, biological and microbial processes.
• Engineered Reedbed Systems; and
Engineered Reedbed Systems are a functional element in a treatment process, with primary and/or secondary treatment process
Council Journal 29