This study examined the pollutants removal performance of an integrated upflow-constructed wetland (IUCW) system in a 1.5 years' continuous operation. The average concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH4-N, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in the effluent were 21.9, 1.47, 2.63, and 0.18 mg/L, respectively, which corresponded to 90.1%, 23.3%, 86.1%, and 97.2% removals from the raw water, respectively. The residual concentration of COD was 219 mg/L at start-up and decreased notably to 52.8 mg/L after 50 days of operation. NH4-N was difficult to remove because the average concentration of dissolved oxygen in the IUCW system was lower than 0.6 mg/L. In contrast, the residual concentrations of both TN and TP in the effluent were stable, with average removal rates as high as 89% and 99%, respectively, at start-up of the system. Changing the organic loading rates from 45.0 g/(m2·day) to 20.0 or 60.0 g/(m2·day) both inhibited the removal of TN. Further study showed that the removal of organic matter mainly occurred within 10-20 cm of the wetland cell. Considering its strong organic, nitrogen, and phosphate removal capacity, the IUCW system was determined to be effective in decentralized wastewater treatment.
Keywords: Domestic wastewater; drinking water treatment residuals; haydite; integrated upflow-constructed wetland; organic loading rate.