Abstract
The vegetation in constructed wetlands (CWs) plays an important role in wastewater treatment. Popularly, the common emergent plants in CWs have been vegetation of natural wetlands. However, there are ornamental flowering plants that have some physiological characteristics similar to the plants of natural wetlands that can stimulate the removal of pollutants in wastewater treatments; such importance in CWs is described here. A literature survey of 87 CWs from 21 countries showed that the four most commonly used flowering ornamental vegetation genera were Canna, Iris, Heliconia and Zantedeschia. In terms of geographical location, Canna spp. is commonly found in Asia, Zantedeschia spp. is frequent in Mexico (a country in North America), Iris is most commonly used in Asia, Europe and North America, and species of the Heliconia genus are commonly used in Asia and parts of the Americas (Mexico, Central and South America). This review also compares the use of ornamental plants versus natural wetland plants and systems without plants for removing pollutants (organic matter, nitrogen, nitrogen and phosphorous compounds). The removal efficiency was similar between flowering ornamental and natural wetland plants. However, pollutant removal was better when using ornamental plants than in unplanted CWs. The use of ornamental flowering plants in CWs is an excellent option, and efforts should be made to increase the adoption of these system types and use them in domiciliary, rural and urban areas.
Highlights
Nowadays, the use of constructed wetlands (CWs) for wastewater treatment is an option widely recognized
The use of ornamental flowering plants in constructed wetlands has been identified in 21 countries
As CWs with ornamental flowering plants (OFP) show good contaminants’ removal efficiencies in the reviewed studies, it is suggested that further research on CWs should be developed, in tropical and subtropical regions
Summary
The use of constructed wetlands (CWs) for wastewater treatment is an option widely recognized. This sustainable ecotechnology is based on natural wetland processes for the removal of contaminants, including physical, chemical and biological routes, but in a more controlled environment compared with natural ecosystems [1,2,3]. These ecologically engineered systems involve three important components: porous-filter media, microorganism and vegetation [2]. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and other nutrients are mainly taken up by wetland plants through the epidermis and vascular bundles of the roots, and are further transported upward to the stem and leaves [7]
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