Abstract
Water quality problems in Norway are caused mainly by high phosphorus (P) inputs from catchment areas. Multiple pollution sources contributes to P inputs into watercourses, and the two main sources in rural areas are agricultural runoff and discharge from on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs). To reduce these inputs, Constructed wetlands (CWs) treating catchment runoff have been implemented in Norway since early 1990s. These CWs have been proven effective as supplements to agricultural best management practices for water quality improvements and therefore there are more than 1000 CWs established in Norway at present. This study aims to present some overall data on the present status of CWs treating catchment runoff in Norway, and in particular recent results of source tracking and retention of sediments and total phosphorus (TP) in a model, full-scale, long-term operated CW, which in practice treats runoff from a typical rural catchment with pollution from both point and diffuse sources. Nutrient contributions from agricultural runoff and OWTSs have been quantified in eight catchments, while the source tracking and retention of sediments and P has been studied in the model CW. P runoff in the catchments was largely affected by precipitation and runoff situation, and varied both throughout the year (every single year) and from one year to another. Annual TP contribution that origins from OWTSs was in general limited, and only 1 % in the catchment of the model CW. Monthly contribution, however, was higher than 30 % during warm/dry season, and cold months with frost season. For the purpose of source tracking study, faecal indicator bacteria (reported in terms of Escherichia coli - E. coli) and host-specific 16S rRNA gene markers Bacteroidales have been applied. High E.coli concentrations were well associated with high TP inputs into waterbodies during dry or/and cold season with little or no agriculture runoff, and further microbial source tracking (MST) tests proved human contribution. There are considerable variations in retention of sediments and TP in the CW between the years, and the annual yearly retention was about 38 % and 16 %, respectively. During the study period, the average monthly retention of sediments and TP was 54 % and 32 %, respectively. E. coli concentrations were also reduced in water passing the CW. The study confirmed that runoff from agricultural areas is the main P source in watercourses, however, discharges from OWTS can also be of great importance for the water quality, especially during warm/dry- and cold/frosty periods. Small CWs treating catchment runoff contribute substantially to the reduction of sediments, TP and faecal indicator bacteria transport into water recipients.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blankenberg, A-G.B., Haarstad, K., & Braskerud, B.C. (2007). Pesticide retention in an experimental wetland treating nonpoint source pollution from agriculture run-off. Water Science & Technology, 55(3), 37–44.
Blankenberg, A-G.B., Haarstad, K., & Søvik, A-K. (2008). Nitrogen retention in constructed wetland-filters treating diffuse agriculture pollution. Desalination, 226, 114–120.
Blankenberg, A-G.B., Deelstra, J., Øgaard, A.F., & Pedersen, R. (2013). Phosphorus and sediment retention in a constructed wetland. In M. Bechmann, J. Deelstra (Eds.), Agriculture and environment – Long term monitoring in Norway (pp. 299–315). Trondheim: Akademika forlag.
Blankenberg, A-G.B., Paruch, A.M., Bechmann, M., & Paruch, L. (2015). Betydning av spredt avløp i jordbrukslandskapet (Rural decentralized wastewater treatment systems in Agricultural Catchments). Vann 2015/1. (In Norwegian, including English summary).
Braskerud, B.C. (2001). Sedimentation in small constructed wetlands. Retention of particles, phosphorus and nitrogen in streams from Arable Watersheds. Dr. Scient. Theses 2001:10, Agriculture University of Norway, Ås, Norway.
Braskerud, B.C., & Blankenberg, A-G.B. (2005). Phosphorus retention in the Lier wetland. Is living water possible in agricultural areas? Jordforsk book nr. 48/05. 145: 126–128.
Braskerud, B.C., Tonderski, K., Wedding, B., Bakke, R., Blankenberg, A-G.B., Ulen, B., & Koskiaho, J. (2005). Can constructed wetlands reduce the diffuse phosphorus loads to eutrophic water in cold temperate regions? Journal of Environmental Quality, 34(6), 2145–2155.
Brinkmeyer, R., Amon, R.M.W., Schwarz, J.R., Saxton, T., Roberts, D., Harrison, S., Ellis, N., Fox, J., DiGuardi, K., Hochman, M., Duan, S., Stein, R., & Elliott, C. (2015). Distribution and persistence of Escherichia coli and Enterococci in stream bed and bank sediments from two urban streams in Houston, TX. Science of the Total Environment, 502, 650–658.
Deelstra, J., Stenrød, M., Bechmann, M., & Eggestad, H.O. (2013). Discharge measurement and water sampling. In M. Bechmann, & J. Deelstra (Eds.), Agriculture and environment – Long term monitoring in Norway (pp. 83–104). Trondheim: Akademika forlag.
Direktoratsgruppa. (2009). Klassifisering av miljøtilstand i vann. Økologisk og kjemisk klassifiseringssystem for kystvann, innsjøer og elver i henhold til vannforskriften. Vanndirektivet: Veileder 01:2009. p. 188 (in Norwegian).
Elsaesser, D., Blankenberg, A-G.B., Geist, A., Mæhlum, T., & Schulz, R. (2011). Assessing the influence of vegetation on reduction of pesticide concentration in experimental surface flow constructed wetlands: Application of the toxic units approach. Ecological Engineering Engineering, 37(6), 955–962.
Hauken, M., & Kværnø, S. (2013). Agricultural management in the JOVA catchments. In M. Bechmann, & J. Deelstra (Eds.), Agriculture and environment – Long term monitoring in Norway (pp. 19–42). Trondheim: Akademika forlag.
Kraft, P., & Turtumøygard, S. (1997). GIS i kommunalt avløp. Delrapport 2, modellbeskrivelse. Jordforsk Rapport 94. 30s. (in Norwegian).
Paruch, A.M. (2011). Long-term survival of Escherichia coli in lightweight aggregate filter media of constructed wastewater treatment wetlands. Water Science and Technology, 63, 558–564.
Paruch, A.M., Mæhlum, T., & Robertson, L. (2015a). Changes in microbial quality of irrigation water under different weather conditions in Southeast Norway. Environmental Processes, 2, 115–124.
Paruch, L., Paruch, A.M., Blankenberg, A-G.B., Bechmann, M., & Mæhlum, T. (2015b). Application of host-specific genetic markers for microbial source tracking of faecal water contamination in an agricultural catchment. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science 65 (S2), 164–172.
Sanders, B.F., Arega, F., & Sutula, M. (2005). Modeling the dry-weather tidal cycling of fecal indicator bacteria in surface waters of an intertidal wetland. Water Research, 39, 3394–3408.
Selvik, J.R., Tjomsland, T., Borgvang, S.A., & Eggestad, H.O. (2006). Tilførsler av næringsstoffer til Norges kystområder i 2005, beregnet med tilførselsmodellen TEOTIL2. NIVA-Report 5330 (In Norwegian).
Solheim, A.L., Vagstad, N., Kraft, P., Løvstad, Ø., Skoglund, S., Turtumøygard, S., & Selvik, J.R. (2001). Tiltaksanalyse for Morsa (Vansjø-Hobølvassdraget) – Sluttrapport. (Remediation strategies for Morsa (the Vansjø-Hobøl watercourse) – the final report). NIVA-Report 4377. (In Norwegian).
Tchobanoglous, G. (1993). Constructed wetlands and aquatic plant systems: Research, design, operational, and monitoring issues. In G.A. Moshiri (Ed.), Constructed wetlands for water quality improvement (pp. 23–34). Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Blankenberg, AG.B., Paruch, A.M., Paruch, L., Deelstra, J., Haarstad, K. (2016). Nutrients Tracking and Removal in Constructed Wetlands Treating Catchment Runoff in Norway. In: Vymazal, J. (eds) Natural and Constructed Wetlands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38927-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38927-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-38926-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-38927-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)