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Influent salinity affects substrate selection in surface flow constructed wetlands

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Abstract

To identify the effect of influent salinity on substrate selection, a study was conducted in pilot-scale surface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs). Compared with gravel and sand SFCWs, soil SFCWs performed similarly or worse at low salinities, while at high salinities, soil SFCWs performed similarly or better in removal efficiency (RE) of salt, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorous (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Soil generally increased macrophyte growth (especially at high salinity) in terms of biomass, leaf chlorophyll concentration, root activity, and root catalase and superoxide dismutase activities. A general decrease in bacterial α-diversity in the rhizosphere was observed at high salinity, while compared with gravel or sand, soil improved rhizosphere bacterial community stability at varying salinities. At high salinity, compared with that of gravel or sand, the soil support of macrophytes and rhizosphere microorganisms increased pollutant RE in SFCWs. This finding highlights the necessity of varying substrate selection in SFCWs with influent salinities for both increasing pollutant RE and reducing input cost, with soil recommended at high influent salinity.

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Availability of data and materials

The data sets supporting the results of this article are included within the article and its additional files.

Funding

The financial support was provided by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment, China (No. 2017ZX07602-002) and the Water Resources Science and Technology Project of Jiangsu Province, China (2018064).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, People’s Republic of China

    Shenyan Zhou, Ran Zhao, Qiming Li, Juan Du, Chen Chen, Qianqian Lu, Miao Zhang, Dehua Zhao & Shuqing An

Authors
  1. Shenyan Zhou
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  2. Ran Zhao
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  3. Qiming Li
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  4. Juan Du
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  5. Chen Chen
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  6. Qianqian Lu
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  7. Miao Zhang
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  8. Dehua Zhao
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  9. Shuqing An
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Contributions

Shenyan Zhou: methodology, validation, data curation, investigation, writing—original draft, and resources. Ran Zhao: validation and investigation. Qiming Li: validation and investigation. Juan Du: validation, data curation, and investigation. Chen Chen: investigation and resources. Qianqian Lu: resources and investigation. Miao Zhang: data curation, investigation, and resources. Dehua Zhao: conceptualization, data curation, writing—review/editing, and supervision. Shuqing An: writing—review/editing and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Dehua Zhao.

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Zhou, S., Zhao, R., Li, Q. et al. Influent salinity affects substrate selection in surface flow constructed wetlands. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 62235–62245 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15036-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15036-5

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