Existing forms and changes of nitrogen inside of horizontal subsurface constructed wetlands

Abstract

Horizontal zeolite subsurface constructed wetland system (HZCWs) and horizontal limestone subsurface constructed wetland system (HLCWs) were applied to the removal of nitrogen in lightly polluted wastewater, and the existing forms, changes, and removal mechanism of nitrogen in the constructed wetlands were analyzed. The results indicated that compared with HLCWs, HZCWs exhibited better nitrogen removal effect, and the maximum removal rates of ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen could reach 96.97 ± 5.29 and 93.12 ± 3.35%, respectively. Besides, analysis of the removal effect on nitrogen in different existing forms on different substrate heights in the constructed wetlands showed that variation of nitrogen removal efficiency had certain regularities, which were related to the interior construction features of the wetland systems, and agreed with the regularities in the changes of the influential factors such as DO inside of the wetlands. In addition, degradation mechanism of pollutions was also analyzed, and the results indicated that the quantity of microorganisms and enzymes, including FDA, catalase, and urease, on the surface of the substrates had significant influence on the removal regularities and effects of the major pollutions in constructed wetlands.