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- Review Article
- Published: 14 March 2023
Constructed wetlands for pollution control
- Haiming Wu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6618-3175 1 na1 ,
- Ruigang Wang 1 na1 ,
- Peihao Yan 1 na1 ,
- Shubiao Wu 2 ,
- Zhongbing Chen ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8801-4842 3 ,
- Yaqian Zhao 4 ,
- Cheng Cheng 5 ,
- Zhen Hu 1 ,
- Linlan Zhuang 1 ,
- Zizhang Guo 1 ,
- Huijun Xie 6 &
- Jian Zhang 1
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4 , pages 218–234 ( 2023 ) Cite this article
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132 Citations
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- Carbon cycle
- Climate-change mitigation
- Environmental chemistry
- Wetlands ecology
Artificial wetlands are used in over 50 countries to sustainably treat wastewater. These constructed wetlands (CWs) make use of natural biogeochemical and physical processes to remove organic matter and nutrients, while providing co-benefits such as ecosystem services and recreation. However, their performance can be variable, as local weather conditions, wastewater composition and operation can affect contaminant removal. In this Review, we discuss the global application and distribution of CWs, and factors affecting their functioning. Based on data from 335 field-scale CWs, hybrid CWs (which use two or more types of CW during water treatment) are the most effective for water-quality improvement and greenhouse gas mitigation, removing 76%, 63% and 72% of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively (based on the median values). Plant species, substrate selection, and environmental and hydraulic conditions affect performance, with variations in contaminant removal performance mainly related to temperature, hydraulic residence time and pollutant loading rates. Pollutant removal and long-term performance of CWs can be enhanced through strategies such as artificial aeration, cold-resistant plant selection, electron donor supplementation and clogging repair. Engineers and scientists must work together to design and manage CWs, ideally maximizing their co-benefits alongside pollution control.
Organic matter and nutrient removal performance, greenhouse gas emission fluxes and variables that affect these factors in constructed wetlands (CWs) are described using a global database of 2,457 water-quality observations and 129 greenhouse gas measurements extracted from 244 peer-reviewed publications.
Field-scale CWs were used in over 50 countries globally during 2001–2021, mainly in Europe (38.8%), Asia (32.8%), North America (14.0%) and Africa (8.1%).
There are clear differences in organic and nutrient removal in different types of CWs; hybrid CWs show the best median removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (75.7%), ammonia-nitrogen (72.1%), total nitrogen (63.4%) and total phosphorus (71.8%), respectively.
Hybrid CWs have lower nitrous oxide (median fluxes 1.4 mg m − 2 d − 1 ), methane (median fluxes 91.5 mg m −2 d − 1 ) and carbon dioxide (median fluxes 4.6 g m − 2 d − 1 ) emissions; their global warming potential is the lowest of the CW types.
Future CW design and management should prioritize ecosystem services while balancing water pollutant removal and socioeconomic benefits.
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Acknowledgements
This work was carried out with the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 51925803), National Key Research and Development Program of China (no. 2021YFC3200602), Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (ZR2021YQ36), QiLu Young Scholar Start-up Foundation of Shandong University and Young Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province (no. 202103017).
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School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
Haiming Wu, Ruigang Wang, Peihao Yan, Zhen Hu, Linlan Zhuang, Zizhang Guo & Jian Zhang
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Praha, Czech Republic
Zhongbing Chen
State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, China
Yaqian Zhao
College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
Cheng Cheng
Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
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Wu, H., Wang, R., Yan, P. et al. Constructed wetlands for pollution control. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4 , 218–234 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00395-z
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Development and trends of constructed wetland substrates over the past 30 years: a literature visualization analysis based on CiteSpace
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Constructed wetland substrates (CWSs) have received considerable attention owing to their importance in adsorbing and degrading pollutants, providing growth attachment points for microorganisms, and supporting wetland plants. There are differences in the configurations and functions of constructed wetlands (CWs) for treating different water bodies and sewage, resulting in a wide variety of substrates. Research on the application and mechanism of CWSs is not sufficiently systematic. Therefore, the current research advancements and hotspots must be identified. Hence, we used CiteSpace to analyze 1955 English publications from the core collection database of the Web of Science to assess the current state of the CWS research field. Based on the cooperative network analysis, the roles of various countries, institutions, and authors in research on CWSs were reviewed. Keyword co-occurrence and cluster analyses were used to discuss the transformation of CWSs from removing traditional pollutants to emerging pollutants and the transition from incorporating natural substrates to artificial substrates. Finally, we underscored the need for more emphasis to be placed on the collocation and application of the CWSs at different latitudes. Furthermore, the substrate micro-interface process and its effects on the interaction patterns of pollutants and microorganisms should be thoroughly investigated to provide theoretical guidance for the development of wetland applications and mechanisms.
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State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control, National Engineering Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control and Ecological Restoration, Research Centre of Lake Environment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
Yongqiang Wang, Shaoyong Lu & Xiaochun Guo
State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China
Yongqiang Wang
Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China
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Yongqiang Wang: writing—original draft preparation; Yi Chen: supervision, writing—Reviewing; Xiaochun Guo: writing—review and editing, and funding acquisition; Shaoyong Lu: conceptualization, writing—reviewing and editing, supervision.
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• Bibliometrics was initially used to analyze substrates in CWs.
• Important countries, institutions, and authors in this field are highlighted.
• Research in this field focuses on developing new substrates and removing emerging pollutants.
• The research prospects of constructed wetland substrates are reviewed.
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Wang, Y., Chen, Y., Lu, S. et al. Development and trends of constructed wetland substrates over the past 30 years: a literature visualization analysis based on CiteSpace. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31 , 14537–14552 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32139-x
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Received : 08 September 2023
Accepted : 18 January 2024
Published : 03 February 2024
Issue Date : February 2024
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32139-x
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