Research Abstracts

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of a reed bed sludge treatment system in Italy after 1 year of operation in two urban wastewater treatment plants, where Phragmites australis was planted directly in emergency beds rearranged for the project. To evaluate the process of stab

Poplar and willow short-rotation coppice have been shown to be suitable to improve wastewater quality in vegetation filters. Nevertheless, water requirements of these species are still uncertain. The aim of this work was to estimate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and crop coefficient (kc) of these sp

The removal of faecal coliforms (FC), Escherichia coli, somatic coliphages and F-specific bacteriophages was monitored over a period of 2 years in two vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) and four intermittent sand filters (ISFs) that treat pond effluent. Tracer tests (NaCl) were performed to

Constructed wetlands (CWs) could play a strategic role in wastewater reclamation and reuse in arid and semiarid regions, such as the Mediterranean area. The aim of this study was to analyse the phytoremoval effectiveness of Phragmites australis and spontaneous plant species (SPS) in two CW systems:

In a series of pot trials, fodder radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiformis Pers.) was cultivated in pyrite cinders heavily polluted by various heavy metals (HM). The effects of application of humic acids (HA) to the cultures were evaluated at various concentrations (0.1 and 1 g kgÀ1 of cinders) a

The contamination of the water resource is a critical environmental issue. PHYTOREM1, a French company specialized in phytoremediation, has patented an innovative technology using temperate bamboos to treat wastewater. The latter is evenly spread over a bamboo grove and supplies water and nutrients

Cattails and reeds are the most common plants in constructed and semi-natural wetlands for wastewater treatment, and can play an important role in both nutrient and heavy metal retention. On the other hand, both plants are highly valued in ecologically oriented construction. The aim of this chapter

A two-stage constructed wetland (CW) system consisting of two vertical flow (VF) beds with intermittent loading operated in series has been investigated. The first stage uses sand with a grain size of 2–3.2 mm for the main layer and has a drainage layer that is impounded; the second stage uses sand

The aim of this research is to define a new Macrophyte Index relevant in the context of the Po Valley. The application of biotic indexes, as the macrophyte ones, is required by both the Italian and the European law to provide an adequate classification of freshwaters, in association with physical–ch

The performance of reed bed systems is usually presented following a long-term evaluation of case studies. However, short-term water content analyses may be useful to better understand the dynamics of the dewatering process and hence to rationally describe the system, with the ultimate aim of improv