Abstract
Constructed wetlands (CWs) are characterized by low construction cost, convenient maintenance and management, and environmentally friendly features. They have emerged as promising technologies for decentralized sewage treatment across rural areas. Source separation of black water and gray water can facilitate sewage recycling and reuse of reclaimed water, reduce the size of treatment facilities, and lower infrastructure investment and operating cost. This is consistent with the concept of sustainable development. However, black water contains high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen, and the denitrification capacity of CWs is not excellent due to insufficient carbon source. Therefore, application of CWs for black water treatment faces challenges. This article provides a review on the progress in CWs for treatment of the sewage with high-influent nitrogen load, with emphasis on the commonly used strengthening means and the role of plants in nitrogen removal via CWs. The current issues of rural sewage treatment with high-influent nitrogen load by CWs are also assessed. Finally, the challenges and perspectives are discussed for the optimization of CWs-enhanced denitrification strategies.
Graphic abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Reproduced with permission from ref. (Kuzyakov and Razavi 2019), Copyright 2019, Elsevier
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not applicable (as the work did not involve or use any novel microbial strain, plasmid, virus, other material such as prions or cell lines and nucleotide or amino acid sequence data).
Code availability
Not applicable (as the work did not involve software application or custom code).
References
Abunaser SG, Abdelhay A (2020) Performance of a novel vertical flow constructed wetland for greywater treatment in rural areas in Jordan. Environ Technol. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2020.1841832
Almeida A, Jozwiakowski K, Kowalczyk-Jusko A, Bugajski P, Kurek K, Carvalho F, Durao A, Ribeiro C, Gajewska M (2020) Nitrogen removal in vertical flow constructed wetlands: influence of bed depth and high nitrogen loadings. Environ Technol 41:2196–2209. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2018.1557749
Alvarez JA, Ruiz I, Soto M (2008) Anaerobic digesters as a pretreatment for constructed wetlands. Ecol Eng 33:54–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2008.02.001
Bakhshoodeh R, Alavi N, Majlesi M, Paydary P (2017) Compost leachate treatment by a pilot-scale subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetland. Ecol Eng 105:7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.04.058
Cano V, Vich DV, Rousseau DPL, Lens PNL, Nolasco MA (2019) Influence of recirculation over COD and N-NH4 removals from landfill leachate by horizontal flow constructed treatment wetland. Int J Phytoremediation 21:998–1004. https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2019.1594681
Chakraborti RK, Bays JS (2020) Natural treatment of high-strength reverse osmosis concentrate by constructed wetlands for reclaimed water use. Water 12(1):158. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010158
Chen ZJ, Tian YH, Zhang Y, Song BR, Li HC, Chen ZH (2016) Effects of root organic exudates on rhizosphere microbes and nutrient removal in the constructed wetlands. Ecol Eng 92:243–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.04.001
Chen T, Liu YP, Zhang B, Sun LH (2019) Plant rhizosphere, soil microenvironment, and functional genes in the nitrogen removal process of bioretention. Environ Sci 21:2070–2079. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9em00296k
Cheng F, Dai Z, Shen S, Wang S, Lu X (2021) Characteristics of rural domestic wastewater with source separation. Water Sci Technol 83:233–246. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2020.557
Du L, Trinh X, Chen Q, Wang C, Wang H, Xia X, Zhou Q, Xu D, Wu Z (2018) Enhancement of microbial nitrogen removal pathway by vegetation in Integrated Vertical-Flow Constructed Wetlands (IVCWs) for treating reclaimed water. Bioresour Technol 249:644–651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.10.074
Du L, Zhao Y, Wang C, Wu Z, Zhou Q (2020) Effects of plant on denitrification pathways in integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland treating swine wastewater. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 201:110752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110752
Fan SQ, Xie GJ, Lu Y, Liu BF, Xing DF, Ding J, Han HJ, Ren NQ (2021) Nitrate/nitrite dependent anaerobic methane oxidation coupling with anammox in membrane biotrickling filter for nitrogen removal. Environ Res 193:110533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110533
Feng L, Wang R, Jia L, Wu H (2020a) Can biochar application improve nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands for treating anaerobically-digested swine wastewater? Chem Eng J 379:122273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.122273
Feng L, Liu Y, Zhang J, Li C, Wu H (2020b) Dynamic variation in nitrogen removal of constructed wetlands modified by biochar for treating secondary livestock effluent under varying oxygen supplying conditions. J Environ Manage 260:110152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110152
Fu G, Wu J, Han J, Zhao L, Chan G, Leong K (2020) Effects of substrate type on denitrification efficiency and microbial community structure in constructed wetlands. Bioresour Technol 307:123222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123222
Han ZF, Dong J, Shen ZQ, Mou R, Zhou YX, Chen XM, Fu XY, Yang CP (2019a) Nitrogen removal of anaerobically digested swine wastewater by pilot-scale tidal flow constructed wetland based on in-situ biological regeneration of zeolite. Chemosphere 217:364–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.11.036
Han ZF, Miao Y, Dong J, Shen ZQ, Zhou YX, Liu S, Yang CP (2019b) Enhanced nitrogen removal and microbial analysis in partially saturated constructed wetland for treating anaerobically digested swine wastewater. Front Env Sci Eng 13(4):52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-019-1133-4
Hou J, Wang X, Wang J, Xia L, Zhang YQ, Li DP, Ma XF (2018) Pathway governing nitrogen removal in artificially aerated constructed wetlands: Impact of aeration mode and influent chemical oxygen demand to nitrogen ratios. Bioresour Technol 257:137–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.02.042
Hu Y, He F, Ma L, Zhang Y, Wu ZB (2016) Microbial nitrogen removal pathways in integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland systems. Bioresource Technol 207:339–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.01.106
Jin Z, Zheng YF, Li XY, Dai CJ, Xu KQ, Bei K, Zheng XY, Zhao M (2020) Combined process of bio-contact oxidation-constructed wetland for blackwater treatment. Bioresour Technol 316:123891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123891
Joseph SMR, Wijekoon P, Dilsharan B, Punchihewa ND, Athapattu BCL, Vithanage M (2020) Anammox, biochar column and subsurface constructed wetland as an integrated system for treating municipal solid waste derived landfill leachate from an open dumpsite. Environ Res 189:109880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109880
Kuzyakov Y, Razavi BS (2019) Rhizosphere size and shape: temporal dynamics and spatial stationarity. Soil Biol Biochem 135:343–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.05.011
Lakho FH, Le HQ, Van Kerkhove F, Igodt W, Depuydt V, Desloover J, Rousseau DPL, Van Hulle SWH (2020) Water treatment and re-use at temporary events using a mobile constructed wetland and drinking water production system. Sci Total Environ 737:139630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139630
Lakho FH, Le HQ, Mattheeuws F, Igodt W, Depuydt V, Desloover J, Rousseau DPL, Van Hulle SWH (2021) Decentralized grey and black water reuse by combining a vertical flow constructed wetland and membrane based potable water system: Full scale demonstration. J Environ Chem Eng 9(1):104688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104688
Li F, Wichmann K, Otterpohl R (2009) Review of the technological approaches for grey water treatment and reuses. Sci Total Environ 407(11):3439–3449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.02.004
Li F, Lu L, Zheng X, Ngo HH, Liang S, Guo W, Zhang X (2014) Enhanced nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands: Effects of dissolved oxygen and step-feeding. Bioresour Technol 169:395–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.004
Li C, Cao J, Ren H, Li Y, Tang S (2015) Comparison on kinetics and microbial community among denitrification process fed by different kinds of volatile fatty acids. Process Biochem 50(3):447–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2015.01.005
Li X, Li YY, Li Y, Wu JS (2019) Enhanced nitrogen removal and quantitative analysis of removal mechanism in multistage surface flow constructed wetlands for the large-scale treatment of swine wastewater. J Environ Manage 246:575–582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.06.019
Li X, Li YY, Lv DQ, Li Y, Wu JS (2020a) Nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance and bacterial communities in a multi-stage surface flow constructed wetland treating rural domestic sewage. Sci Total Environ 709:136235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136235
Li X, Wu SH, Yang CP, Zeng GM (2020b) Microalgal and duckweed based constructed wetlands for swine wastewater treatment: a review. Bioresource Technol 318:123858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123858
Li QG, Long ZQ, Wang HJ, Zhang GM (2021) Functions of constructed wetland animals in water environment protection - a critical review. Sci Total Environ 760:144038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144038
Liu G, He TY, Liu YH, Chen ZY, Li L, Huang QQ, Xie ZH, Xie YF, Wu LS, Liu J (2019) Study on the purification effect of aeration-enhanced horizontal subsurface-flow constructed wetland on polluted urban river water. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 26:12867–12880. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04832-9
Martinez NB, Tejeda A, Del Toro A, Sanchez MP, Zurita F (2018) Nitrogen removal in pilot-scale partially saturated vertical wetlands with and without an internal source of carbon. Sci Total Environ 645:524–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.147
Mena-Ulecia K, Hernandez HH (2015) Decentralized peri-urban wastewater treatment technologies assessment integrating sustainability indicators. Water Sci Technol 72:214–222. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2015.209
Oliveira GA, Colares GS, Lutterbeck CA, Dell’Osbel N, Machado EL, Rodrigues LR (2021) Floating treatment wetlands in domestic wastewater treatment as a decentralized sanitation alternative. Sci Total Environ 773:145609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145609
Paulo PL, Azevedo C, Begosso L, Galbiati AF, Boncz MA (2013) Natural systems treating greywater and blackwater on-site: Integrating treatment, reuse and landscaping. Ecol Eng 50:95–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.03.022
Ratzke C, Barrere J, Gore J (2020) Strength of species interactions determines biodiversity and stability in microbial communities. Nat Ecol Evol 4(3):376–383. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1099-4
Sakurai KSI, Pompei CME, Tomita IN, Santos-Neto AJ, Silva GHR (2021) Hybrid constructed wetlands as post-treatment of blackwater: an assessment of the removal of antibiotics. J Environ Manage 278:111552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111552
Silvestrini NEC, Hadad HR, Maine MA, Sanchez GC, Pedro MD, Caffaratti SE (2019a) Vertical flow wetlands and hybrid systems for the treatment of landfill leachate. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:8019–8027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04280-5
Silvestrini NEC, Maine MA, Hadad HR, Nocetti E, Campagnoli MA (2019b) Effect of feeding strategy on the performance of a pilot scale vertical flow wetland for the treatment of landfill leachate. Sci Total Environ 648:542–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.132
Sun Y, Zheng H, Xiong Z, Wang Y, Tang X, Chen W, Ding Y (2014) Algae removal from raw water by flocculation and the fractal characteristics of flocs. Desalin Water Treat 56:894–904. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2014.944586
Sun HS, Xu SJ, Wu SH, Wang R, Zhuang GQ, Bai ZH, Deng Y, Zhuang XL (2019) Enhancement of facultative anaerobic denitrifying communities by oxygen release from roots of the macrophyte in constructed wetlands. J Environ Manage 246:157–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.05.136
Sylla A (2020) Domestic wastewater treatment using vertical flow constructed wetlands planted with Arundo donax, and the intermittent sand filters impact. Ecohydrol Hydrobiol 20:48–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2018.11.004
Tang XC, Wen YX, He Y, Jiang HX, Dai XH, Bi XJ, Wangner M, Chen HB (2020a) Full-scale semi-centralized wastewater treatment facilities for resource recovery: operation, problems and resolutions. Water Sci Technol 82:303–314. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2020.169
Tang S, Liao Y, Xu Y, Dang Z, Zhu X, Ji G (2020b) Microbial coupling mechanisms of nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands: a review. Bioresource Technol 314:123759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123759
Varma M, Gupta AK, Ghosal PS, Majumder A (2021) A review on performance of constructed wetlands in tropical and cold climate: insights of mechanism, role of influencing factors, and system modification in low temperature. Sci Total Environ 755:142540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142540
Wang W, Ding Y, Wang Y, Song X, Ambrose RF, Ullman JL (2016) Intensified nitrogen removal in immobilized nitrifier enhanced constructed wetlands with external carbon addition. Bioresour Technol 218:1261–1265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.06.135
Wang X, Daigger G, Lee DJ, Liu JX, Ren NQ, Qu JH, Liu G, Butler D (2018) Evolving wastewater infrastructure paradigm to enhance harmony with nature. Sci Adv 4(8):eaaq0210. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaq0210
Wang W, Song X, Li F, Xiyan Ji, Hou M (2020) Intensified nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands by novel spray aeration system and different influent COD/N ratios. Bioresour Technol 306:123008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123008
Wang Q, Rogers MJ, Ng SS, Jianzhong He J (2021) Fixed nitrogen removal mechanisms associated with sulfur cycling in tropical wetlands. Water Res 189:116619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116619
Wu H, Fan J, Zhang J, Ngo HH, Guo W, Hu Z, Liang S (2015) Decentralized domestic wastewater treatment using intermittently aerated vertical flow constructed wetlands: Impact of influent strengths. Bioresour Technol 176:163–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.041
Wu H, Wang X, He X, Zhang S, Liang R, Shen J (2017) Effects of root exudates on denitrifier gene abundance, community structure and activity in a micro-polluted constructed wetland. Sci Total Environ 598:697–703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.150
Wu S, Lyu T, Zhao Y, Vymazal J, Arias CA, Brix H (2018a) Rethinking intensification of constructed wetlands as a green eco-technology for wastewater treatment. Environ Sci Technol 52:1693–1694. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b00010
Wu S, Gao L, Gu J, Zhou W, Fan C, He S, Huang J, Zhang X, Cheng Y, Wu Z, Wang Z (2018b) Enhancement of nitrogen removal via addition of cattail litter in surface flow constructed wetland. J Clean Prod 204:205–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.036
Yalcuk A, Ugurlu A (2020) Treatment of landfill leachate with laboratory scale vertical flow constructed wetlands: plant growth modeling. Int J Phytoremediat 22:157–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2019.1652562
Yang Z, Yang L, Wei C, Wu W, Zhao X, Lu T (2018) Enhanced nitrogen removal using solid carbon source in constructed wetland with limited aeration. Bioresour Technol 248:98–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.188
Yang SS, Yu XL, Ding MQ, He L, Cao GL, Zhao L, Tao Y, Pang JW, Bai SW, Ding J, Ren NQ (2021) Simulating a combined lysis-cryptic and biological nitrogen removal system treating domestic wastewater at low C/N ratios using artificial neural network. Water Res 189:116576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116576
Ye JJ, Liu JY, Ye M, Ma X, Li YY (2020) Towards advanced nitrogen removal and optimal energy recovery from leachate: a critical review of anammox-based processes. Crit Rev Env Sci Technol 50:612–653. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2019.1631989
Yin K, Lv M, Wang Q, Wu Y, Liao C, Zhang W, Chen L (2016) Simultaneous bioremediation and biodetection of mercury ion through surface display of carboxylesterase E2 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA1. Water Res 103:383–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.07.053
Yuan CB, Zhao FC, Zhao XH, Zhao YQ (2020) Woodchips as sustained-release carbon source to enhance the nitrogen transformation of low C/N wastewater in a baffle subsurface flow constructed wetland. Chem Eng J 392:124840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.124840
Zhai J, Xiao J, Rahaman MH, John Y, Xiao JS (2016) Seasonal variation of nutrient removal in a full-scale artificial aerated hybrid constructed wetland. Water 8(12):551. https://doi.org/10.3390/w8120551
Zheng X, Lv C, Jin Z, Bei K, He S, Kong H, Zhao M (2020) Enhancement of wastewater treatment with underwater light: Efficiency and micro-ecosystem alterations in the open aerobic reactor of living machine. Ecol Eng 153:105896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.105896
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the Major Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang (Grant No. 2020C02010), the Wenzhou Basic Agricultural Science and Technology Project (Grant No. S20180006) and the Wenzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. S20190004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by ZJ and SL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by XL and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, X., Yang, L., Xu, K. et al. Application of constructed wetlands in treating rural sewage from source separation with high-influent nitrogen load: a review. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 37, 138 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03105-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-021-03105-3