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Pollutant removal performance of an integrated system that combines a baffled vertical-flow wetland and a scenic water body

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Abstract

Stormwater treatment requires effective control measures and development of low-cost and high-efficiency technologies. An integrated system is developed by combining a baffled vertical-flow constructed wetland (BVFCW) and a scenic water body for stormwater quality control purpose. The objectives of the study are to compare the pollutant removal performance of the full-scale integrated system with four groups of wetland-to-scenic water body area ratios (WSARs) including 1/11, 2/11, 3/11, 4/11 and investigate its treatment efficiency. Results show that the system performs better in the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+–N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3–N), and total phosphorus (TP) at the WSAR of 4/11 than that at 3/11 in sixteen-day operation, while it reaches the highest total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of 74.0% at the WSAR of 2/11 due to relatively rich carbon source and high influent TN concentration. The integrated system may prove the most effective COD removal at the WSAR of 4/11 for four-time aerobic/anaerobic alternating conditions, a longer flow path and more time to contact with substrates, although the influent COD is lower than that at 2/11 and 1/11. After sixteen-day operation, BVFCW achieved COD removal rate of 90.3%, NH4+–N removal rate of 85.7%, NO3–N removal rate of 68.6%, and TP removal rate of 52.5% at the WSAR of 4/11. At the WSAR of 1/11, effluent met the Class IV requirements in Chinese standards after one-week operation, while effluent met the Class III requirements under the rest conditions. Since effluent in all WSARs met the standards, WSARs of 1/11 and 2/11 were recommended.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the other members of our group, who gave us advice and suggestions regarding this work, for their selfless contributions.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project for Water Pollution Control and Remediation of China: Storm-water Management for Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development Research and Demonstration Project (Grant No. 2010ZX07320-001), and the National Key R&D program of China (Grant 2017YFC0404704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, People’s Republic of China

    Hongxiang Chai, Wenqian Li, Zhiyu Shao, Liang Li & Qiang He

  2. National Centre for International Research of Low-Carbon and Green Buildings, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, People’s Republic of China

    Hongxiang Chai, Wenqian Li, Zhiyu Shao, Liang Li & Qiang He

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  1. Hongxiang Chai
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  2. Wenqian Li
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  4. Liang Li
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Correspondence to Hongxiang Chai.

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Chai, H., Li, W., Shao, Z. et al. Pollutant removal performance of an integrated system that combines a baffled vertical-flow wetland and a scenic water body. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 269–281 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3507-8

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