The role of helophyte species on nitrogen and phosphorus retention from wastewater treatment plant effluents

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:252

Article

Gacia, Esperanca¹  Bernal, Susana^1,2  Nikolakopoulou, Myrto²  Carreras, Ester¹  Morgado, Laura¹  Ribot, Miquel¹  Isnard, Manel³  Sorolla, Albert⁴  Sabater, Francesc²  Marti, Eugenia¹ 

[1] CSIC, CEAB, Integrat Freshwater Ecol Grp, Ctra Acces Cala St Francesc 14, Blanes 17300, Catalonia, Spain

[2] Univ Barcelona, Dept Biol Evolut Ecol & Ciencies Ambientals BEECA, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

[3] Concorci Besos Tordera, Granollers, Catalonia, Spain

[4] Naturalea SL, Castellar Del Valles, Catalonia, Spain

关键词: Helophytes;    Wastewater treatment plant effluent;    Nitrogen;    Phosphorus;    Biomass standing stock;    Nutrient retention;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109585

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

In the Mediterranean region, water scarcity compromises stream water quality particularly downstream of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). We tested the potential of four helophyte species to reduce dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from WWTP effluents. We conducted an 11-month mesocosm experiment to assess differences in N and P content among plant compartments and among species. Moreover, we quantified the relative contribution of above and belowground parts of the plants to N and P retention. The experiment was conducted at the Urban River Laboratory (www.urbanriverlab.com ) in artificial channels (12 m long x 0.6 m wide x 0.4 m deep) planted with monospecific stands of Iris pseudoacorus, Typha angustifolia, Phragmites australis and Scirpus lacustris. Channels (three replicates per species) received water from the WWTP effluent, which flowed at a constant rate of 5 L min(-1) through the sub-surface. The helophytes were planted in November 2014 and biomass standing stocks of carbon (C), N and P were measured in October 2015 at the time of maximum plant biomass. Differences in the concentration of N and P were larger among plant compartments than among species. The highest N concentration was measured in leaves while rhizomes showed the highest P concentration. The total plant biomass varied greatly among species from 11.4 to 4.6 Kg DW m(-2) for Iris and Scirpus, respectively. Iris accumulated the highest amount of N (256 g N m(-2)) and P (27 g P m(-2)) in biomass. Plants retained from 8% (Scirpus) to 19% (Iris) of total dissolved inorganic N inputs to the channels (10.4 kg N) during the experiment, and from 6% (Phragmites) to 14% (Iris) of total dissolved inorganic P inputs (1.3 kg P). This study provides quantitative evidence to water managers of the potential role of helophytes to improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems receiving water from WWTP effluents.

【 授权许可】

Free