Optimized Design of Modular Constructed Wetland for Treating Rural Black–Odorous Water

Abstract

In recent years, the phenomenon of black–odorous water has occurred frequently, and constructed wetlands have been widely used as an effective means of treating black–odorous water. In order to achieve the goal of low-carbon and high-efficiency long-term clean-up of black–odorous water, the modular constructed wetland system was optimized in this study. The optimized modular constructed wetland consisted of aeration, denitrification, and phosphorus removal, of which the denitrification module was a sulfur–iron autotrophic denitrification unit and the phosphorus removal module was a polyaluminum chloride composite filler phosphorus-removal unit. Experimental findings indicated that modular systems with layout ratios of 1:3:1 (A) and 1:2:2 (B) exhibit outstanding performance in remediating contaminants from black–odorous water. Notably, system B demonstrated superior treatment efficiency. Under conditions of high pollution loading, system B consistently achieved stable removal rates for COD (95.79%), TN (91.74%), NH4+-N (95.17%), and TP (82.21%). The combination of along-track changes and high-throughput sequencing results showed that the synergies among the units did not produce negative effects during the purification process, and each unit realized its predefined function. Changes in the substrate and internal environment of the wetland units caused changes in the microbial populations, and the unique microbial community structure of the units ensured that they were effective in removing different pollutants.