Characteristics of pollutants behavior in a stormwater constructed wetland during dry days

Abstract

A stormwater wetland treating non-point source pollution (NPS) from a 64 ha agricultural watershed was monitored over a period of five months. The results indicated that pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) were increased in the wetland due to the algal growth. The highest total suspended solids (TSS) concentration was observed in the aeration pond due to the resuspension of solids, decreased in the wetland. The respective decreases in total nitrogen (TN) and total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) were 15.9% and 28.7% on passing through the wetland. The nitrate and ammonia were increased by 45.4% and decreased by 79.9%, respectively. These variations provided strong evidence for the existence of nitrification. The total phosphorus (TP) and phosphate had respective reductions of 52.3% and 58.2% over the wetland. The total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) were also decreased. Generally, the TN, TP and phosphate removal efficiencies were positive. These positive removal efficiencies were mainly due to microbial activities, uptake by plants, and chemical precipitation at high pH. Negative removal efficiencies can be caused by continuous rainfall activities, with short antecedent dry days (ADDs) and unstable hydraulic conditions, some other biogeochemical transformations and algal growth also being important parameters.