Effect of Substrate, Feeding Mode and Number of Stages on the Performance of Hybrid Constructed Wetland Systems

A hybrid constructed wetland mesocosm has been used for the treatment of raw urban wastewater. The first stage was a mulch-based, subsurface, horizontal flow constructed wetland (HF). The HF achieved good removals of COD (61%; 54 g/m2·day) and Total Suspended Solids (84%; 29 g/m2·day). The second stage was composed of vertical flow constructed wetlands (VF) that were employed to study the effect of substrate (gravel vs. mulch), feeding mode (continuous vs. intermittent) and the number of stages (1 vs. 2) on performance. High hydraulic and organic surface loadings (513–583 L/m2·day and 103–118 g/m2·day of COD) were applied to the reactors. The mulch was more efficient than gravel for all the parameters analyzed. The continuous feeding allowed a 3 to 6-fold reduction of the surface area required.