Author/Editor		Urbanc-Berčič, Olga
Title		Constructed wetlands as low technology wastewater treatment
Type		članek
Source		In: Bioremediation and phytoremediation of organic pollutants and nutrients. International short-course series; 2001 Oct 22-23; Nova Gorica. Nova Gorica: International institute for rural and environmental health,
Publication year		2001
Volume		str. 1-8
Language		eng
Abstract		Interest in constructed wetlands (CWs) for the treatment of variety of waste waters has rapidly grown since the middle of 80s. Constructed wetlands are recognised as an alternative and a complement to the traditional high technology wastewater treatment systems. Technology has several advantages compared to the conventional treatment systems, especially for small wastewater producers. Some of these advantages are low cost of construction and maintenance costs at most, low energy requirements, high potential for removal of suspended solids, organic matter, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus; and withstanding of great fluctuations in water flow and pollution load. The implementation of this low-technology covers a treatment of domestic sewage in rural areas, small settlements, summer resorts, protected areas, as well as agricultural run-off, different kinds of industrial wastewater, as well as discharges from mine-tailings. CWs are on-site systems. There is no need for a construction of a sewer system and environmental characteristics (e.g. topography, exposure, soil type, slope) can be beneficial advantage. Treatment is based on microbiological decomposition of matter and higher plant uptake which result in removal of organic compounds, nutrients, metal and other pollutants. CWs show sufficient treatment performance even during winter in temperate and cold regions. Since the plants, herbaceous or wooden ones are the important element of the treatment process, the approach is also indicated as bioremediation, where natural processes are dominating.
Descriptors		SEWAGE WATER PURIFICATION PLANTS OXYGEN NITROGEN AMMONIA