Effect of plant species on wastewater treatment performance of a subsurface vertical-flow constructed wetland with step-feeding at low temperature

Menglu Huang; Lin Zhao; Zhen Wang; Ximing Sun; Qiongqiong Shang; Yihan Li; Mengxiao Li; Hongzhi Geng; Siyu Hu; Yongkui Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122546

Effect of plant species on wastewater treatment performance of a subsurface vertical-flow constructed wetland with step-feeding at low temperature

J Environ Manage. 2024 Sep 18:370:122546. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122546. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Menglu Huang¹, Lin Zhao², Zhen Wang³, Ximing Sun⁴, Qiongqiong Shang⁵, Yihan Li⁶, Mengxiao Li⁷, Hongzhi Geng⁸, Siyu Hu⁹, Yongkui Yang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: hml0808@tju.edu.cn.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: zhaolin@tju.edu.cn.
³ School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China. Electronic address: zwang@ahau.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: 3348301460@qq.com.
⁵ Nanchang Hangkong University, Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Persistent Pollutants Control and Resources Recycle, Nanchang 330063, China. Electronic address: qqshang666@126.com.
⁶ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: lyh_06@tju.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: hlixmeng@163.com.
⁸ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: genghongzhiTJU@163.com.
⁹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: hsysyouxiang@163.com.
¹⁰ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin Engineering Center for Technology of Protection and Function Construction of Ecological Critical Zone, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: ykyang@tju.edu.cn.

PMID: 39299120
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122546

Abstract

To improve the treatment performance of constructed wetlands under low-temperature conditions, this study investigated the effects of plant species on wastewater treatment performance at low temperature and the associated microbiological characteristics in a subsurface vertical-flow constructed wetland (VFCW) with step-feeding. The results showed that the redox microenvironment in the VFCW filter with step-feeding could be restored and optimized by planting appropriate species that can tolerate low temperature, ensuring a high nitrification performance for the system. Correspondingly, the abundance and activity of three functional microbes (namely nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and anammox bacteria) increased to different degrees in the system, eventually ensuring ideal nitrogen removal by the VFCW. Compared with the VFCW planted with Phragmites australis and Acorus gramineus, the operation performance of the VFCW planted with Iris wilsonii could be recovered at low temperature, and its chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and ammonium nitrate removal rates could respectively reach 95.7%, 99.2%, 93.0%, and 94.4%, respectively. Moreover, nitrogen removal in the system relied on the nitrification/denitrification and partial denitrification - anaerobic ammonium oxidation processes. Nitrosomonas, Nitrospira, Thauera, and Candidatus Brocadia were the four dominant bacterial genera in the filter layer.

Keywords: Hardy plant; Low temperature; Nitrification/denitrification; Partial denitrification-anaerobic ammonium oxidation (PD/AMX); Step-feeding; Vertical-flow constructed wetland (VFCW).