Both practical and theoretical, this book provides the basic principles of soil chemistry, hydrology, wetland ecology, microbiology, vegetation and wildlife as a sound introduction to this innovative technology to treat toxic wastewaters and sludges. The use of wetlands for acid mine drainage, and metals removal in municipal, urban runoff, and industrial systems is discussed. Case histories are also presented, demonstrating specific types of constructed wetlands and applications to municipal wastewater, home sites, coal and non-coal mining, coal-fired electric power plants, chemical and pulp industry, agriculture, landfill leachate, and urban stormwater. Construction and management guidelines are clearly explained, providing information on applicable policies and regulations, siting and construction, and operations and monitoring of constructed wetlands treatment systems. Recent theoretical and empirical results from operating systems and research facilities, including such new applications as nutrient removal from eutrophic lakes and urban stormwater treatment within highway rights-of-way, are included. This book is an ideal resource for wastewater treatment plants, consulting engineers, federal and state regulators, industrial environmental managers, municipalities, environmental health professionals, and ecologists.

Contents: Overview of Treatment Wetlands; Fundamentals of Treatment Wetlands; Horizontal Flow Wetlands; Vertical Flow Wetlands; French Vertical Flow Wetlands; Intensified and Modified Wetlands; Free Water Surface Wetlands; Other Applications; Additional Aspects.

Artificial or constructed wetlands are an emerging technology particularly for tropical areas with water scarcity. For big cities, the sustainable management of water resources taking into account proper use is always challenging. The book presents case studies illustrating the above. As plants and microorganisms are a fundamental part of the correct functioning of these systems, their contribution to the degradation of the organic matter and to the removal and transformation of the pollutant compounds present in the wastewaters is also a highlight of this book.

The aim of this book is to present an overview of the state of the art with regard to the function, application and design of TWSs in order to better protect surface water from contamination. Accordingly, it also presents applications of constructed wetlands with regard to climatic and cultural aspects. The use of artificial and natural treatment wetland systems (TWSs) for wastewater treatment is an approach that has been developed over the last thirty years. Europe is currently home to roughly 10,000 constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs), which simulate the aquatic habitat conditions of natural marsh ecosystems; roughly 3,500 systems are in operation in Germany alone. TWSs can also be found in many other European countries, for example 200 – 400 in Denmark, 400 – 600 in Great Britain, and ca. 1,000 in Poland. Most of the existing systems serve as local or individual household treatment systems. CWTSs are easy to operate and do not require specialized maintenance; further, no biological sewage sludge is formed during treatment processes. As TWSs are resistant to fluctuations in hydraulic loads, they are primarily used in rural areas as well as in urbanized areas with dispersed habitats, where conventional sewer systems and central conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) cannot be applied due to the high costs they would entail. TWSs are usually applied at the 2nd stage of domestic wastewater treatment, after mechanical treatment, and/or at the 3rd stage of treatment in order to ensure purification of effluent from conventional biological reactors and re-naturalization. New applications of TWSs include rainwater treatment as well as industrial and landfill leachate treatment. TWSs are well suited to these fields, as they can potentially remove not only organic matter and nitrogen compounds but also trace metals and traces of persistent organic pollutants and pathogens. Based on the practical experience gathered to date, and on new research regarding the processes and mechanisms of pollutant removal and advances in the systems properties and design, TWSs continue to evolve.

Research for alternate biological waste water treatment techniques has been increasing with the demand for a pollution free environment. The marsh/wetland treatment system is an effective and inexpensive technique that provides a natural solution to this problem. In this thesis paper 4 marsh/wetland demonstration projects are reviewed and the combination of vegetation and micro-organisms that are responsible for sewage treatment are discussed. Both natural and artificial marshes are compared, with the artifical systems showing higher efficiencies in removing phosphorus, nitrogen, and biochemical oxygen demand. Based on the 4 projects cited, approximately 1 ha of land is required for a marsh/wetland facility to serve 1600 - 2500 people. The recommended retention time is 7 days during the peak growth months. The marsh/wetland systems are thought to be easily adapted to current facultative lagoon systems, as the lagoons already serve as basins that could be adapted for planting emergent.