Constructed wetlands are a standard sustainable technology in waste and mine water treatment. Whereas macrophytes actively contribute to decomposition and/or removal of wastewater’s organic pollutants, removal of hydrolysable metals from mine water is not attributable to direct metabolic, but rather various indirect macrophyte-related mechanisms. These mechanisms result in higher treatment efficiency of (vegetated) wetlands relative to (unvegetated) settling ponds. Contribution of macrophytes to treatment predominantly includes: enhanced biogeochemical oxidation and precipitation of hydrolysable metals due to catalytic reactions and bacterial activity, particularly on immersed macrophyte surfaces; physical filtration of suspended hydrous ferric oxides by dense wetland vegetation down to colloids that are unlikely to gravitationally settle efficiently; scavenging and heteroaggregation of dissolved and colloidal iron, respectively, by plant-derived natural organic matter; and improved hydrodynamics and hydraulic efficiency, considerably augmenting retention and exposure time. The review shows that constructed surface-flow wetlands have considerable advantages that are often underestimated. In addition to treatment enhancement, there are socio-environmental benefits such as aesthetic appearance, biotope/habitat value, and landscape diversity that need to be considered. However, there is currently no quantitative, transferrable approach to adequately describe the effect and magnitude of macrophyte-related benefits on mine water amelioration, let alone clearly assign optimal operational deployment of either settling ponds or wetlands. A better (quantitative) understanding of underlying processes and kinetics is needed to optimise assembly and sizing of settling ponds and wetlands in composite passive mine water treatment systems.

人工湿地是废物和矿井水处理中的标准可持续技术。尽管大型植物积极地促进了废水中有机污染物的分解和/或去除，但是从矿井水中去除可水解金属并不是直接代谢，而是各种与大型植物有关的间接机制。这些机制导致（植被）湿地相对（无植被）沉淀池的处理效率更高。大型植物对处理的贡献主要包括：由于催化反应和细菌活性，特别是在浸没的大型植物表面上，生物地球化学的氧化和可水解金属沉淀的增加；通过稠密的湿地植被对悬浮的含水三氧化二铁进行物理过滤，直至胶体难以重力有效沉降；源自植物的天然有机物分别清除和溶解聚集的铁和胶态铁；以及改善的水动力和水力效率，大大增加了保留时间和暴露时间。审查表明，人工地表流湿地具有很多优点，而这些优点往往被低估了。除了提高处理效果外，还需要考虑社会环境方面的好处，例如美学外观，生物群落/栖息地价值和景观多样性。但是，目前尚没有定量，可转移的方法来充分描述与大型植物相关的益处对矿井水改善的影响和程度，更不用说明确分配沉降池或湿地的最佳运行部署了。需要对底层过程和动力学有更好的（定量）理解，以优化组合式被动矿井水处理系统中沉降池和湿地的组装和尺寸。