Performance of an artificial wetlands filter treating facultative lagoon effluent at Carville, Louisiana

Treatment plant upgrades of existing facultative lagoon systems are rapidly incorporating constructed artificial wetlands systems to control biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). Subsurface low wetlands or artificial wetlands filters (AWF) are being installed at many facilities throughout the U.S. Most of these systems are relatively new and extensive operational experience is lacking. This study presents an examination of the performance of a system at the U. S. Public Health Service's Gillis W. Long Hensen's Disease Control Center located in Carville, Louisiana. The AWF is designed to meet effluent standards of 10 mg/L 5-day BOD (BOD 5 ) and 15 mg/L TSS, based on a design low of 568 m 3 /d (150 000 gpd) with a 24-hour detention time