Hydraulic and hydrological aspects of an evapotranspiration-constructed wetland combined system for household greywater treatment

J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng. 2018 May 12;53(6):493-500. doi: 10.1080/10934529.2017.1422954. Epub 2018 Jan 24.

Abstract

Constructed wetlands systems demand preliminary and primary treatment to remove solids present in greywater (GW) to avoid or reduce clogging processes. The current paper aims to assess hydraulic and hydrological behavior in an improved constructed wetland system, which has a built-in anaerobic digestion chamber (AnC), GW is distributed to the evapotranspiration and treatment tank (CEvaT), combined with a subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetland (SSHF-CW). The results show that both the plants present in the units and the AnC improve hydraulic and volumetric efficiency, decrease short-circuiting and improve mixing conditions in the system. Moreover, the hydraulic conductivity measured on-site indicates that the presence of plants in the system and the flow distribution pattern provided by the AnC might reduce clogging in the SSHF-CW. It is observed that rainfall enables salt elimination, thus increasing evapotranspiration (ET), which promotes effluent reduction and enables the system to have zero discharge when reuse is unfeasible.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; clogging; evapotranspiration; hydraulic conductivity; hydrodynamic; salinization.

MeSH terms

  • Conservation of Natural Resources / methods
  • Household Products*
  • Humans
  • Hydrology* / methods
  • Plants
  • Steam / analysis
  • Waste Disposal Facilities
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods*
  • Wastewater / chemistry
  • Water Pollutants / isolation & purification
  • Water Purification / methods*
  • Wetlands*

Substances

  • Steam
  • Waste Water
  • Water Pollutants