Abstract

Constructed wetlands have been shown to provide sufficient domestic wastewater treatment in temperate climates. However, the effectiveness of this technology, when subjected to severe temperature extremes during start-up conditions, is limited. Because of the growing interest in constructed wetland technology within smaller communities located in colder-climates, and the need for cost-effective treatment systems, this paper presents the performance of a constructed wetland system during the first two-years of operation under a variety of loading and operating conditions associated with northern climates. While the treatment performance of constructed wetland systems has been widely documented within the literature, documentation on performance during start-up stages has been limited. The results indicate that effective and sufficient constructed wetland seasonal removals of total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, 5-day carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and fecal coliform were achieved within the wetland cell during the first two-years of operation. Wastewater temperatures appeared to affect 5-day carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand removal rates. Nitrogen and phosphorus reductions were not as effective and varied seasonally, as well as with wastewater temperature.

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