Constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment: A review on the technical, environmental and socio-economic benefits

In wineries, wastewater production and solid waste generation can pose serious environmental threats. Winery waste-water production has a seasonal behavior and needs a treatment system that can adapt to these fluctuations while re-ducing costs, and environmental impacts and promoting other winery activities. The implementation of constructed wetlands (CWs) has been demonstrated to be a competitive solution for winery wastewater and sludge treatment. In this article, worldwide experiences over the last 25 years of CWs for winery wastewater treatment are reviewed. The review shows that the application of hybrid CWs coupled with anaerobic digestion can reduce >90 % of the or-ganic pollutants and solids from winery wastewater while avoiding clogging. These efficiencies and advantages can be also attained with French vertical systems. Not only CWs have a good technical performance, but they also reduce up to >90 % the environmental impacts associated with winery wastewater treatment. It is due to low energy require-ments, no chemicals consumption and avoidance of off-site management and transportation practices. In terms of costs, CWs can reduce up to 60 times the costs associated with winery wastewater treatment and management. More efforts should be made in order to define the social benefits of this technology and the quality of the recovered resources (e.g. treated water, fertilizer) in order to promote the circular economy without compromising human and ecosystem health.

Automated summary

In wineries, the production of wastewater and solid waste can have serious negative impacts on the environment. Constructed wetland systems are effective in treating winery wastewater and sludge, reducing organic pollutants and solids while avoiding clogging. These systems have high technical performance and can significantly reduce the environmental impacts and costs associated with winery wastewater treatment.