Journal
WATER RESEARCH
Volume 39, Issue 14, Pages 3259-3272Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2005.05.038
Keywords
constructed wetlands; subsurface-flow; nitrate; phosphate; nursery runoff; Phragmites australis; reed bed
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Subsurface horizontal flow reed beds are being evaluated for Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) removal from plant nursery runoff water in New South Wales Australia. The need to include plants (Phragmites australis), the effect of reaction time (3.5 v 7.0d) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on N and P removal in batch fed gravel wetland tubs (55 L) was studied over 19 months. Simulated nursery runoff water containing N (10.1 mg L-1, 74% as NO3) and P (0.58 mg L-1, 88% as PO4) and DOC (2-5 mg L-1) was used. The planted wetland tubs removed > 96% TN and TP over most of the 19-month study period while unplanted tubs were inefficient (< 16% N and < 45% P removal) and occasionally discharged nutrients. Doubling the reaction time to 7.0 days had no effect on nutrient removal. Plant nutrient uptake accounted for most of the N (76%) and P (86%) removed while roots and rhizomes were the dominant sink (N 58%, P 67%). The addition of methanol (C:N-3:1) to unplanted tubs achieved 81-98% N removal. In Carbon limited low nutrient nursery runoff, plants were essential to a gravel-based wetland to achieve efficient nutrient removal with effluent TN and TP concentrations of < 1 mg L-1 and 0.05 mg L-1, respectively with a 3.5 day reaction time. Crown Copyright (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available