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Cost and Benefits of Treatment Wetlands in the Tropics

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Wetlands for Remediation in the Tropics

Part of the book series: Wetlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management ((WECM,volume 9))

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Abstract

Treatment wetlands have proven to be an effective technology for treating wastewater in tropical regions due to their capacity to treat a wide range of polluted waters from different origins and compositions. Additionally, treatment wetlands can provide ancillary benefits beyond the removal of pollutants, including leisure, education, conservation, and climate change mitigation. Depending on the context where the technology will be implemented, treatment wetlands may demand similar or higher capital cost investments compared with other wastewater treatment technologies, but with lower operation and maintenance costs; this represents an opportunity for low-income countries and regions in the tropics, especially if the cost structure is analyzed in the long term, where the treatment wetland technology is more cost-efficient in comparison with conventional mechanical-based treatment systems. Treatment wetlands integrated into the local landscape can become biodiversity sanctuaries, and besides the water reclamation and reuse, the systems can produce plant-based, high-value products, integrating into a circular economy model. In this chapter are reviewed the different components of the cost structure of treatment wetlands, are presented examples of the capital, operation, and maintenance cost of treatment wetlands vs. conventional treatment technologies, and are addressed the environmental, and ecosystemic benefits of implementing treatment wetland technologies, and the side potential economic benefits of plant biomass use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pan-American Treatment Wetland Network (HUPANAM), Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Marco A. Rodríguez-Domínguez, Carlos A. Ramírez-Vargas & Carlos A. Arias

  2. Green Growth Group México S.A. de C.V, Lerma, Estado de México, Mexico

    Marco A. Rodríguez-Domínguez

  3. Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Carlos A. Ramírez-Vargas & Carlos A. Arias

  4. Aarhus University Centre for Water Technology – WATEC, Aarhus, Denmark

    Carlos A. Ramírez-Vargas & Carlos A. Arias

Authors
  1. Marco A. Rodríguez-Domínguez
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  2. Carlos A. Ramírez-Vargas
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  3. Carlos A. Arias
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Correspondence to Marco A. Rodríguez-Domínguez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico

    Tatiana Lobato de Magalhães

  2. Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA

    Marinus L. Otte

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Rodríguez-Domínguez, M.A., Ramírez-Vargas, C.A., Arias, C.A. (2023). Cost and Benefits of Treatment Wetlands in the Tropics. In: Lobato de Magalhães, T., Otte, M.L. (eds) Wetlands for Remediation in the Tropics. Wetlands: Ecology, Conservation and Management, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23665-5_11

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