Application of vertical flow constructed wetland in treatment of heavy metals from pulp and paper industry wastewater.

Abstract

The paper production is material intensive and generates enormous quantity of wastewater containing organic pollutants and heavy metals. Present study demonstrates the feasibility of constructed wetlands (CWs) to treat the heavy metals from pulp and paper industry effluent by using vertical flow constructed wetlands planted with commonly available macrophytes such as Typha angustifolia, Erianthus arundinaceus, and Phragmites australis. Results indicate that the removal efficiencies of the planted CWs for iron, copper, manganese, zinc, nickel, and cadmium were 74, 80, 60, 70, 71, and 70%, respectively. On the other hand, the removal efficiency of the unplanted system was significantly lower ranging between 31 and 55%. Among the macrophytes, T. angustifolia and E. arundinaceus exhibited comparatively higher bioconcentration factor (10(2) to 10(3)) than P. australis.