Treatment of agricultural drainagewater by surface-flow wetlands paired with woodchip bioreactors

TY - JOUR

T1 - Treatment of agricultural drainagewater by surface-flow wetlands paired with woodchip bioreactors

AU - Pugliese, Lorenzo

AU - Skovgaard, Henrik

AU - Mendes, Lipe R.D.

AU - Iversen, Bo V.

PY - 2020/7

Y1 - 2020/7

N2 - Nutrient losses from agricultural fields have long been a matter of concern worldwide due to the ecological disturbance this can cause to surface waters downstream. In this paper a new design concept, which pairs a surface-flow constructed wetland (SFW) with a woodchip bioreactor (WB), was tested in relation to its capacity to reduce both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads from agricultural tile drainage water. A nutrient mass balance and a comparative analysis were carried out together with statistical regressions in order to evaluate the performance of four SFW+WBs under different catchment conditions. We found marked variations between the systems in regard to hydraulic loading rate (0.0 to 5.0 m/day) and hydraulic retention time (1 to 87 days). The paired system worked as nutrient sinks throughout the study period. Total N and total P removal efficiencies varied from 8% to 51% and from 0% to 80%, respectively. The results support the use of the new design concept for nutrient removal from tile-drained agricultural catchments in Denmark as part of national management plans, with the added advantage that smaller areas are needed for construction (0.1% to 0.2% of the catchment area) in comparison to standalone and currently used SCWs (~1%).

AB - Nutrient losses from agricultural fields have long been a matter of concern worldwide due to the ecological disturbance this can cause to surface waters downstream. In this paper a new design concept, which pairs a surface-flow constructed wetland (SFW) with a woodchip bioreactor (WB), was tested in relation to its capacity to reduce both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads from agricultural tile drainage water. A nutrient mass balance and a comparative analysis were carried out together with statistical regressions in order to evaluate the performance of four SFW+WBs under different catchment conditions. We found marked variations between the systems in regard to hydraulic loading rate (0.0 to 5.0 m/day) and hydraulic retention time (1 to 87 days). The paired system worked as nutrient sinks throughout the study period. Total N and total P removal efficiencies varied from 8% to 51% and from 0% to 80%, respectively. The results support the use of the new design concept for nutrient removal from tile-drained agricultural catchments in Denmark as part of national management plans, with the added advantage that smaller areas are needed for construction (0.1% to 0.2% of the catchment area) in comparison to standalone and currently used SCWs (~1%).

KW - Constructed wetland

KW - Denitrification

KW - Hydraulic loading rate

KW - Hydraulic retention time

KW - Nitrogen

KW - Phosphorus

KW - Sorption

KW - Woodchip bioreactors

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088539867&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/w12071891

DO - 10.3390/w12071891

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85088539867

SN - 2073-4441

VL - 12

JO - Water (Switzerland)

JF - Water (Switzerland)

IS - 7

M1 - 1891

ER -