Water quality improvement in a full-scale tertiary constructed wetland: effects on conventional and specific organic contaminants.

The surface flow constructed wetland (SF CW) in Can Cabanyes (Granollers, Catalonia, northeastern Spain) was created as a part of a series of activities aimed at restoring a highly impacted fluvial peri-urban zone. The system is fed with a small part of the secondary effluent, which is not completely nitrified, from an urban wastewater treatment plant. Effluents in the SF CW were sampled between 2003 and 2006 for physical and chemical parameters and faecal bacteria indicators. In addition, 8 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were measured in June 2005 and February 2006. The system showed a good reliability for ammonium and faecal bacteria removal, with average ammonium efficiencies between 64 and 87% and a removal of approximately 2 logarithmic units of Faecal Coliforms. A clear seasonal trend was observed for ammonium. The results for PPCPs demonstrated that the wetland has a good capacity for removing a large variety of these compounds; the removal efficiencies were higher than 70% for most of them, with the exception of clofibric acid (34%) and carbamazepine (39%). Although the chemical oxygen demand and total suspended solid removal rates were either low or zero because of the permanent eutrophic conditions of the system and the low incoming concentrations, the effluent quality is generally considered to be quite good.

[1]  J. Bayona,et al.  Elimination of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in subsurface flow constructed wetlands. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[2]  L. Baker,et al.  Nitrogen transformations in a wetland receiving lagoon effluent: sequential model and implications for water reuse. , 2001, Water research.

[3]  R. Fujioka,et al.  The microbial quality of a Wetland Reclamation Facility used to produce an effluent for unrestricted non-potable reuse , 1999 .

[4]  Martin Kampmann,et al.  Ozonation: a tool for removal of pharmaceuticals, contrast media and musk fragrances from wastewater? , 2003, Water research.

[5]  Watze de Wolf,et al.  Removal of fragrance materials during U.S. and European wastewater treatment. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[6]  Roberto Andreozzi,et al.  Pharmaceuticals in STP effluents and their solar photodegradation in aquatic environment. , 2003, Chemosphere.

[7]  A. Crivelli,et al.  Characteristics of Mediterranean wetlands , 1994 .

[8]  K. Tonderski,et al.  Free water surface wetlands for wastewater treatment in Sweden: nitrogen and phosphorus removal. , 2005, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[9]  M. Greenway The role of constructed wetlands in secondary effluent treatment and water reuse in subtropical and arid Australia , 2005 .

[10]  Daniel A. Okun,et al.  Guidelines for water reuse. , 1992 .

[11]  Michal Green,et al.  Constructed wetlands for river reclamation: Experimental design, start-up and preliminary results , 1996 .

[12]  G. Duca,et al.  Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment , 2009 .

[13]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[14]  J. Bayona,et al.  Behavior of selected pharmaceuticals in subsurface flow constructed wetlands: a pilot-scale study. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  Thomas Heberer,et al.  Tracking persistent pharmaceutical residues from municipal sewage to drinking water , 2002 .

[16]  T. Heberer Occurrence, fate, and removal of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment: a review of recent research data. , 2002, Toxicology letters.

[17]  M. Jekel,et al.  Organic Pollutants in the Water Cycle: Properties, Occurrence, Analysis and Environmental Relevance of Polar Compounds , 2006 .

[18]  C. Thoeye,et al.  The role of free water surface constructed wetlands as polishing step in municipal wastewater reclamation and reuse. , 2007, The Science of the total environment.

[19]  T. Claassen,et al.  The Use of Treated Wastewater for Nature: The Waterharmonica, a Sustainable Solution as an Alternative for Separate Drainage and Treatment , 2004 .

[20]  Marta Carballa,et al.  Behavior of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and hormones in a sewage treatment plant. , 2004, Water research.

[21]  J. Müller,et al.  Biodegradation of persistent polar pollutants in wastewater: comparison of an optimised lab-scale membrane bioreactor and activated sludge treatment. , 2006, Water research.

[22]  M. Reinhard,et al.  Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and alkylphenol ethoxylate metabolites in an effluent‐dominated river and wetland , 2004, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[23]  Adriano Joss,et al.  Scrutinizing pharmaceuticals and personal care products in wastewater treatment. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[24]  Johanne Beausse,et al.  Selected drugs in solid matrices: a review of environmental determination, occurrence and properties of principal substances , 2004 .

[25]  E. Bécares,et al.  Seasonal decomposition of Typha latifolia in a free-water surface constructed wetland , 2006 .