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Functions of slags and gravels as substrates in large-scale demonstration constructed wetland systems for polluted river water treatment

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Abstract

The choice of substrates with high adsorption capacity, yet readily available and economical is vital for sustainable pollutants removal in constructed wetlands (CWs). Two identical large-scale demonstration horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) CWs (surface area, 340 m2; depth, 0.6 m; HLR, 0.2 m/day) with gravel or slag substrates were evaluated for their potential use in remediating polluted urban river water in the prevailing climate of northwest China. Batch experiments to elucidate phosphorus adsorption mechanisms indicated a higher adsorption capacity of slag (3.15 g/kg) than gravel (0.81 g/kg), whereby circa 20 % more total phosphorus (TP) removal was recorded in HSSF-slag than HSSF-gravel. TP removal occurred predominantly via CaO-slag dissolution followed by Ca phosphate precipitation. Moreover, average removals of chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand were approximately 10 % higher in HSSF-slag than HSSF-gravel. Nevertheless, TP adsorption by slag seemed to get quickly saturated over the monitoring period, and the removal efficiency of the HSSF-slag approached that of the HSSF-gravel after 1-year continuous operation. In contrast, the two CWs achieved similar nitrogen removal during the 2-year monitoring period. Findings also indicated that gravel provided better support for the development of other wetland components such as biomass, whereby the biomass production and the amount of total nitrogen (TN; 43.1–59.0 g/m2) and TP (4.15–5.75 g/m2) assimilated by local Phragmites australis in HSSF-gravel were higher than that in HSSF-slag (41.2–52.0 g/m2 and 3.96–4.07 g/m2, respectively). Overall, comparable pollutant removal rates could be achieved in large-scale HSSF CWs with either gravel or slag as substrate and provide a possible solution for polluted urban river remediation in northern China.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Program of Water Pollution Control (grant no. 2013ZX07310-001), Social development key project of Shaanxi Province (grant no. 2011KTZB03-03-03), and the Program for Innovative Research Team in Shaanxi (grant no. IRT 2013KCT-13).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resources, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, 710055, China

    Yuan Ge, Xiaochang Wang, Yucong Zheng, Mawuli Dzakpasu & Jiaqing Xiong

  2. UCD Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University College Dublin, Newstead Building, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Mawuli Dzakpasu & Yaqian Zhao

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  1. Yuan Ge
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  2. Xiaochang Wang
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  3. Yucong Zheng
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  4. Mawuli Dzakpasu
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  5. Yaqian Zhao
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  6. Jiaqing Xiong
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Correspondence to Xiaochang Wang.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Ge, Y., Wang, X., Zheng, Y. et al. Functions of slags and gravels as substrates in large-scale demonstration constructed wetland systems for polluted river water treatment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12982–12991 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4573-9

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