Wastewater treatment in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands using different media (setup stage)

Wastewater treatment through horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetlands (CWs) using three different treatment media (gravel, pieces of plastic pipes, and shredded tire rubber chips) were investigated in Samaha village, Dakahliya, Egypt. The study focused on the wetland setup stage during the first months of its operation (setup stage). In this stage media porosity, bacterial biofilm, and plant roots growth were in progress and it was prior to the operational steady state stage. Objectives of this paper are to study the change in media porosity of HSSF wetland cells in order to estimate duration of wetland setup stage, and to evaluate the use of different bed media on biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) treatment. The results showed that after 180 days of operation, the wetland cells had reached steady porosity and had started stable treatment. Also performance of plastic media bed in pollutants reduction was better than gravel and rubber beds and gravel media was in advanced than rubber media.