Performance evaluation of Portuguese constructed wetlands for municipal wastewa...

• Author(s): Duarte, António A. L. Sampaio ; Seco, Teresa Canais ; Peres, José A. ; Bentes, Isabel ; Pinto, Jorge
• Date: 2010
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/17617
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Wastewater treatment; Natural systems; Constructed wetlands; Investment costs; Monitoring; Performance evaluation
• Document Type: Part of book or chapter of book
• Language: English

Description

Constructed wetlands have been used as a technology appropriate for the treatment of municipal or domestic wastewater in some villages in Portugal. Most of constructed wetlands present a low cost (installation and maintenance), low energy requirements and technical skills of operators, environment friendly landscape, and good efficiency and reduced production of sludge. In a situation where is a need of appropriate wastewater treatment from a large number of rural villages, it is appropriate to evaluate the performance of some constructed wetlands systems operate in Portugal, in order to validate them as a credible alternative to conventional methods of wastewater treatment. This work presents a characterization of twenty constructed wetlands, an analysis of unit costs of treatment and the unit areas, and proceeds to the evaluation of their efficiency on the main wastewaters quality parameters. Moreover, the analysis identifies the major operational problems of these systems, suggesting a few mitigating measures and/or corrective to both the improvement of its operation, and the streamlining of its procedures for an accurate monitoring.