Pilot Wastewater Treatment Plant Wetlands | Surfactant Removal

The pilot unit, using constructed wetlands, was implemented next to the existing wastewater treatment plant (lagoons - Australian System) to receive, by pumping, a fraction of the raw sewage. The system was designed for a flow rate of 480 L/day, equivalent to approximately 10 employees.

The system's objective is to demonstrate the performance of constructed wetlands technology in reducing the main indicators of wastewater treatment (BOD, COD, TSS, NH4+, Ptot), with particular interest in the removal of surfactants (ABS or LAS).

During an intensive monitoring period, over 9 months of operation, the system achieved average removal efficiencies of 93% for BOD, 92% for COD, and 88% for surfactants, easily meeting the limits for discharge into a Class II receiving body of water.

The pilot system consists of three vertical flow wetland units plus six horizontal flow wetland units; this configuration is known as a Hybrid System and exhibits high pollutant removal efficiencies. Several plant species were tested in the system.

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