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High performance of integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland for polishing low C/N ratio river based on a pilot-scale study in Hangzhou, China

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Abstract

We investigated the treatment efficiency of micro-polluted NO3−-dominated river water with low C/N ratio by five parallel pilot-scale IVCWs with different plant and substrate collocation. When the mean concentration was 2.24 and 0.193 mg L−1 in influent, IVCWs achieved an average (mass) removal rate of (0.09 g m−2 day−1) 46.8% and (0.77 g m−2 day−1) 62.3% for TN and TP, respectively, during 1 year of operation. Water quality was significantly improved from grade V to meet the criterion of grade IV of surface water. Through the comparison of removal rate by different IVCWs, we found that lack of carbon sources in influent limited the denitrification in the middle and bottom layers (ML, BL) of IVCW. Zeolites deployed in the upper layer (UL) of IVCW reduced the overall N removal efficiency compared with gravels, due to a stronger nitrification but weaker denitrification. Canna indica (C. indica) was superior to Arundo donax (A. donax) and Thalia dealbata (T. dealbata) for N removal in the UL of IVCW due to higher aboveground biomass accumulation and microbial removal during the first 10 months. Stronger nitrification and denitrification were simultaneously facilitated near the rhizosphere of C. indica. When entered into Dec., A. donax performed higher N removal efficiency than the other two species. The internal replenishment of peats in the ML as carbon sources significantly improved N and P removal efficiency. Zeolites with stronger capacity of ammonium (NH4+) adsorption was more in favor of anammox in the BL, when compared with roseites, but both of them were not conducive to the growth of denitrifiers. However, the deployment of shale ceramisites obtained an opposite result. Gemmata and Pirellula as anammox bacteria were more enriched in the zeolite layer, whereas some anaerobic denitrifiers (Corynebacterium and Paludibacter) and heterotrophic denitrifiers including Bacillus, Geobacter, Pseudomonas, and Lactococcus were more found in shale ceramisite. Supply of peats as carbon sources in the ML was beneficial for the adhesion of anammox bacteria and denitrifiers in the BL of shale ceramisites. An ideal model composed of C. indica + A. donax (DFU)-gravel (UL)-anthracite+peat (ML)-zeolite+shale ceramsite (BL)-Acorus calamus (UFU) was proposed for treating this type of river water to achieve high efficiency.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Lingwei Kong, Lei Zeng, and Faming Huang for their assistance.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the projects of the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (No. 2016YFC0500403-03) and Science and Technology Service Network Initiative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KFJ-STS-ZDTP-038).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Peng Xu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Enrong Xiao, Feng He, Dong Xu, Yi Zhang & Zhenbin Wu

  3. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Yafen Wang

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  1. Peng Xu
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Correspondence to Enrong Xiao.

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Xu, P., Xiao, E., He, F. et al. High performance of integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland for polishing low C/N ratio river based on a pilot-scale study in Hangzhou, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 22431–22449 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05508-0

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