Effects of plants development and pollutant loading on performance of vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands

The influent concentration has a great effect on nutrients removal efficiency in vertical subsurface flow constructed wetland systems, but treatment performance response to different C: N: P ratios in the influent are unclear at present. At the first growing seasons, the effects of the plants present or not, season, the different C: N: P ratio in influent condition and their interaction on treatment performances were studied in the planted or the unplanted wetlands in greenhouse condition. Each set of units was operated at hydraulic loading rates of 40 L/d. Low, medium and high-strength (100, 200, 400 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand or 20, 40, 80 mg/L total nitrogen) synthetic sewage were applied as influent. According to the first growing season results, the average removal efficiencies for the unplanted and the planted wetlands were as follows: chemical oxygen demand (44–58 % and 55–61 % respectively), total nitrogen (26–49% and 31–54 %) and total phosphorus (36–64 % and 70–83 %). The both wetlands system was operated as an efficient treatment system of highest average removal rates of both chemical oxygen demand and total phosphorus when medium-strength synthetic sewage were applied. When high strength synthetic sewage was applied, the planted wetlands usually had a higher nutrients removal rates than the unplanted over the study period. The plants grew well under any high loading treatment over the study period. Anyhow, it also proved that the wetland systems have a good capacity to treat different strength wastewater in greenhouse condition.