Tech-IA floating system introduced in urban wastewater treatment plants in the Veneto region – Italy

The performance of three integrated wetland treatment plants (horizontal sub-surface flow (h-SSF) and floating treatment wetland (FTW) with differentiated primary treatments) designed for treating domestic wastewater was investigated, monitoring total (TN), nitrate (NO₃-N), nitrite (NO₂-N) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄-N), total (TP) and phosphate phosphorus (PO₄-P), chemical (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), and dissolved oxygen (DO) at the inlet and outlet of each wetland section from February 2011 to June 2012. Sediments settled in the FTW were collected and analyzed. The growth of plants in each system was also monitored, observing their general conditions. The chemical–physical characteristics of the pretreated domestic wastewater depended on the primary treatment installed. During the monitoring period we observed different reduction performance of the wetland sector in the three sites. In general, the wetland systems demonstrated the capacity to reduce TN, COD, BOD₅ and Escherichia coli, whereas NO₃-N and NH₄-N removal was strictly influenced by the chemical conditions, in particular DO concentration, in the h-SSF and FTW. Vegetation (Phragmites australis, Alnus glutinosa and Salix eleagnos) was well established in the h-SSF as well as in the floating elements (Iris pseudacorus), although there were some signs of predation. FTW is a relatively novel wetland system, so the results obtained from this study can pave the way for the application of this technology.