Yi Chen

Effects of plant biomass on nitrate removal and transformation of carbon sources in subsurface-flow constructed wetlands

Denitrification is strongly dependent on carbon quantity and quality in most constructed wetlands (CWs). In this study, four batch CWs were designed, and were fed with nitrate-dominated water to investigate nitrate removal affected by plant and external cattail litter with or without alkali pretreatment. The results showed that the unit with plant and alkali-pretreated litter was more efficient in the initial stage whereas unit with plant and unpretreated litter was superior to other units in the middle and terminal stages. Plant accounted for less than 37% of the nitrate removal in biomass-up added CWs. The different nitrate removal rates were found to be greatly affected by the composition of the plant biomass as well as the quantity and quality of the available organic matters. It was also observed that plant biomass degradation over the period of this study resulted in various N species and concentrations in effluent.

Comment on “Enhanced Long-Term Nitrogen Removal and Its Quantitative Molecular Mechanism in Tidal Flow Constructed Wetlands”

Tidal flow constructed wetlands (TF CWs) have recently been studied as a sustainable technology to achieve enhanced nitrogen removal; however, the underlying mechanisms responsible for removing ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3–) have not been compared and quantified at the molecular level (genes) in controlled TF CWs. In this study, two TF CWs T1 (treating NH4+ wastewater) and T2 (treating NO3– wastewater) achieved high removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD, 92 ± 2.7% and 95 ± 2.4%, respectively), NH4+/NO3– (76 ± 3.9% and 97 ± 2.2%, respectively), and total nitrogen (TN, 81 ± 3.5% and 93 ± 2.3%, respectively). Combined analyses revealed that the presence of simultaneous nitrification, anammox, and denitrification processes and the coupling of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium, ammonia oxidation, and anammox were the primary reason accounted for the robust treatment performance in T1 and T2, respectively. Results from stepwise regression analysis suggested that the NH4+ removal rat...

Effects of plant biomass on denitrifying genes in subsurface-flow constructed wetlands

The effect of Typha latifolia and its litter on density and abundance of three denitrifying genes (nirS, nirK and nosZ) were investigated in six laboratory-scale SSF CW microcosms. Results showed that the copy numbers of nirS, nirK and nosZ in wetland microcosms were ranged between 10(8)-10(9), 10(6)-10(7) and 10(7)-10(8) copies g(-1), respectively. The presence of T. latifolia encouraged the growth of nirK containing bacteria. Addition of cattail litter could greatly stimulate the growth of bacteria containing nirS and nosZ gene. Path analysis illustrated that the presence of plants and litters had no significant direct impact on denitrifying genes, while it affected the denitrifying genes via alteration of dissolved oxygen and carbon sources.

Effects of dissolved oxygen on extracellular enzymes activities and transformation of carbon sources from plant biomass: Implications for denitrification in constructed wetlands

Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations have often been shown to be important to decomposition rates of plant litter and thus may be a key factor in determining the supply of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and carbon-dependent denitrification in wetlands. During the 2 months operation, DOC accumulation in anaerobic condition was superior to aerobic condition due to higher activities of hydrolase enzymes and lower hydrolysates converted to gaseous C. Also, much higher denitrification rates were observed in wetland when using anaerobic litter leachate as the carbon source, and the available carbon source (ACS) could be used as a good predictor of denitrification rate in wetland. According to the results of this study, extracellular enzymes activities (EEAs) in wetland would change as a short-term consequence of DO. This may alter balance of litter carbon flux and the characteristics of DOC, which may, in turn, have multiple effects on denitrification in wetlands.

Effects of plant biomass on nitrogen transformation in subsurface-batch constructed wetlands: a stable isotope and mass balance assessment.

Nitrate is commonly found in the influent of subsurface-batch constructed wetlands (SSB CWs) used for tertiary wastewater treatments. To understand the effects of plants and the litter on nitrate removal, as well as on nitrogen transformation in SSB CWs, six laboratory-scale SSB CW microcosms were set up in duplicate and were operated as batch systems with hydraulic residence time (HRT) of 5d. The presence of Typha latifolia enhanced nitrate removal in SSB CWs, and the N removed by plant uptake was mainly stored in aboveground biomass. Typha litter addition greatly improved nitrate removal in SSB CWs through continuous input of labile organic carbon, and calculated enrichment factors (ε) were between -12.1‰--13.9‰ from the nitrogen stable isotope analysis, suggesting that denitrification plays a dominant role in the N removal. Most significantly, simultaneous sulfur-based autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrification was observed in CWs. Finally, mass balance showed that denitrification, sedimentation burial and plant uptake respectively contributed 54%-94%, 1%-46% and 7.5%-14.3% to the N removal in CWs.

Occurrence, removal and environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in rural wastewater treatment wetlands

Rural communities in central and eastern Europe usually use constructed wetlands (CWs) to treat domestic wastewater. Effluents from these systems are regularly discharged to receiving water, resulting in a potential transfer of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) from sewage to the aquatic environment. In this study, the seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment of 32 multi-class PPCPs were investigated in three CWs from the village of south Bohemia, Czech Republic. Among the PPCPs considered, 25 compounds were detected in sewage influent, and ibuprofen, caffeine and paracetamol were the most commonly detected PPCPs. The removal efficiencies of PPCPs in the rural CWs exhibited large variability with 11-100% for anti-inflammatories, 37-99% for β-blockers and 18-95% for diuretics. The statistical results revealed significant correlations between removal efficiencies of six PPCPs and conventional water quality parameters. The ecotoxicological assessment study revealed that most of the PPCPs (except ibuprofen) in the effluent yielded low aquatic risk. This study suggested that constructed wetlands could be effective for removing PPCPs and reducing environmental risk of PPCPs discharged from rural communities into surface water systems.

Effects of pH on the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic wastes and volatile fatty acids accumulation: the contribution of biotic and abiotic factors.

In this study, a combination of micro-scale structure and extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) analysis was successfully used to explore the effect of pH (from 6.0 to 12.0) on wetland plant litter (WPL) hydrolysis and VFAs accumulation. During 30days of fermentation, the maximum VFAs production and abiotic release of carbohydrate, combined with the minimum EEAs were observed at pH 12.0, suggesting that abiotic factors were most important for hydrolysis and VFAs accumulation at pH 12.0. As the pH decreased, the factors most important to carbohydrate hydrolysis shifted from abiotic factors to biotic factors with the maximum bio-release of carbohydrate occurring at pH 9.0. Further investigation showed that pH 9.0 could significantly enhance the bio-release of carbohydrate through the increase in the mesoporous surface area, surface cellulose accessibility and cellulase activity. Alkaline fermentation at ambient temperature can be considered as a sustainable technology for VFAs recovery and WPL management.

Enhanced nitrogen removal reliability and efficiency in integrated constructed wetland microcosms using zeolite

The purpose of this study is to reduce the seasonal fluctuation and enhance the efficiency of nitrogen removal in vertical flow-horizontal subsurface flow (VFHSF) constructed wetlands. Two sets of VF-HSF constructed wetlands were built, VF1-HSF1 and VF2-HSF2, and a zeolite section was placed in VF2. The results showed that VF2-HSF2 compared to VF1-HSF1 was not only a more reliable nitrogen removal method, but also enhanced the nitrogen removal efficiency by 50%. The average apparent rate of nitrogen removal in VF2-HSF2 reached to 2.52 gN·m−3·d−1, which doubled the rate in VF1-HSF1. Plant uptake and organic nitrogen sediment accounted for 12% and 6% of the total nitrogen removal in VF1-HSF1, respectively, and 10% and 4% in VF2-HSF2, respectively. Biologic nitrogen removal was the dominant mechanism, which accounted for 79% and 87% of the total nitrogen removal in VF1-HSF1 and VF2-HSF2, respectively. Ammonia adsorbed by zeolite during the cold seasons was desorbed, and then nitrified in warm seasons, which resulted in a bioregeneration efficiency of 91%. Zeolite in VF was capable of transferring ammonia from cold seasons to warm seasons as well as enhancing nitrification, which was accompanied by high potential denitrification in HSF that reinforced the efficiency and relieved seasonal fluctuation of nitrogen removal in VFHSF.

Sulfate removal and sulfur transformation in constructed wetlands: The roles of filling material and plant biomass

Sulfate in effluent is a challenging issue for wastewater reuse around the world. In this study, sulfur (S) removal and transformation in five batch constructed wetlands (CWs) treating secondary effluent were investigated. The results showed that the presence of the plant cattail (Typha latifolia) had little effect on sulfate removal, while the carbon-rich litter it generated greatly improved sulfate removal, but with limited sulfide accumulation in the pore-water. After sulfate removal, most of the S was deposited with the valence states S (-II) and S (0) on the iron-rich gravel surface, and acid volatile sulfide was the main S sink in the litter-added CWs. High-throughput pyrosequencing revealed that sulfate-reducing bacteria (i.e. Desulfobacter) and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (i.e. Thiobacillus) were dominant in the litter-added CWs, which led to a sustainable S cycle between sulfate and sulfide. Overall, this study suggests that recycling plant litter and iron-rich filling material in CWs gives an opportunity to utilize the S in the wastewater as both an electron acceptor for sulfate reduction and as an electron donor for nitrate reduction coupled with sulfide oxidation. This leads to the simultaneous removal of sulfate, nitrate, and organics without discharging toxic sulfide into the receiving water body.

Transformation of Chloroform in Model Treatment Wetlands: From Mass Balance to Microbial Analysis

Chloroform is one of the common disinfection byproducts, which is not susceptible to degradation and poses great health concern. In this study, the chloroform removal efficiencies and contributions of sorption, microbial degradation, plant uptake, and volatilization were evaluated in six model constructed wetlands (CWs). The highest chloroform removal efficiency was achieved in litter-added CWs (99%), followed by planted (46-54%) and unplanted CWs (39%). Mass balance study revealed that sorption (73.5-81.2%) and microbial degradation (17.6-26.2%) were the main chloroform removal processes in litter-added CWs, and that sorption (53.6-66.1%) and plant uptake (25.3-36.2%) were the primary contributors to chloroform removal in planted CWs. Around 60% of chloroform got accumulated in the roots after plant uptake, and both transpiration and gas-phase transport were expected to be the drivers for the plant uptake. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogens were found to be the key microorganisms for chloroform biodegradation through cometabolic dechlorination, and positive correlations were observed between functional genes (dsrA, mcrA) and biodegradation rates. Overall, this study suggests that wetland is an efficient ecosystem for sustainable chloroform removal, and that plant and litter can enhance the removal performance through root uptake and microbial degradation stimulation, respectively.