Performance of a sub-surface flow constructed wetland in polishing pre-treated wastewater—a tropical case study

This paper reports on the performance of three units of a sub-surface horizontal flow constructed wetland (CW) pilot plant in polishing effluent from the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor plant. Studies on the use of UASB for on-site wastewater pre-treatment were initiated in Tanzania for the first time in 1993, while initial research works on the application of CW for polishing effluent from UASB, the results of which are reported in this paper began in 1999. In this study the UASB reactor plant received and pre-treated part of the wastewater from the studentʹs hostels at the University College of Lands and Architectural Studies in Tanzania. Out of the three units, unit B was planted with Phragmites mauritianus, unit C with Typha latifolia and A was used as a control. Both P.mauritianus and T.latifolia have been extensively researched in Europe and USA as suitable species of vegetation in CW. However, very limited studies on the suitability of these wetland plants have been reported under tropical climate. The studied parameters were chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate (NO3-N), nitrite (NO2-N), ammonium (NH4-N), faecal coliforms (FC), total coliforms (TC), pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO). The study was carried out at an average hydraulic retention time of 1.93 days (1.85 in unit A, 1.96 in unit B and 1.99 in unit C) obtained as a ratio of the volume of wastewater in the wetland and the volumetric flow rate of wastewater through the wetland unit while taking into consideration the porosity of the media. Better performance for the vegetated units B and C were obtained compared to the control unit A. Nutrients were least removed in all units (NH4-N 11.2%, 25.2% and 23% in units A, B and C, respectively, NO3-N 32.2%, 40.3% and 44.3% for units A, B and C, respectively, and NO2-N 23.9%, 38.5% and 23.1% for units A, B and C, respectively). The COD removal rate was 33.6%, 56.3% and 60.7% for units A, B and C, respectively. The study also indicated that pH increased from the influent to the effluent and that DO increase was related to the decrease of temperature. FC and TC removal ranged from 43% to 72%, with the least removal in unit A.