Performance of pilot Hybrid Reed Bed constructed wetland with aeration system on nutrient removal for domestic wastewater treatment

A hybrid reed bed constructed wetland (HRBCW) with aeration system was employed in three-stages; a Surface-Flow (SF) system, a Vertical-Flow (VF) system, and lastly a Horizontal-Flow (HF) system in series. The system was planted with Malaysian native aquatic plant (Scirpus grossus) and it was made up of media arranged in three layers of medium gravel (phi 10-15 mm) at the top, river sand (phi 3-5 mm) in the middle, and larger gravel (phi 30-35 mm) in the bottom of the CW. S. grossus could survive and reproduce with a continuous feed of 86.5 L raw wastewater per day. The results indicate that the system with a 3-day HRT achieved an average removal of 84.7 and 71.0% for NH4-N and PO4-P respectively. Based on this study, the use of HRBCW system for treating household sewage in small communities is a technically and economically feasible using S. grossus that has high effectiveness for treating domestic wastewater. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.