IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4427-d1654771.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modular Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Rural Domestic Wastewater: Laboratory Performance and Field Application

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaolin Zhao

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China)

  • Jing Yang

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China)

  • Rubin Han

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China)

  • Hui Luo

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China
    Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China)

  • Limin Chen

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China)

  • Meng Liu

    (School of Civil and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang 222005, China)

  • Baojie He

    (Centre for Climate Resilient and Low–Carbon Cities, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China)

Abstract

As the discharge points of domestic sewage in rural areas are scattered with large fluctuations, constructed wetlands (CWs) are of great effectiveness in treating rural domestic wastewater. In this paper, horizontal subsurface flow modular constructed wetlands (HSSF-MCWs) with different filler combinations and plant species were constructed to analyze the pollutant removal effect on rural domestic wastewater. According to the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, the purification effect of the systems on rural domestic wastewater was evaluated for the selection of the best system. The decentralized rural domestic sewage treatment PPP project (Phase III) in Changshu was also monitored for field application. The results indicated that the red brick–volcanic rock (RB-VR) combination showed the best comprehensive removal effect on rural domestic wastewater, with the highest average removal rate of ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 + -N 81.0 ± 2.5%) and total nitrogen (TN 64.5 ± 3.4%). The fuzzy comprehensive index (FCI) of the RB-VR systems with four rural plants ranged from 2.60 to 3.74, in which Myriophyllum elatinoides Gaudich. showed the optimum long-term purification effect. The water quality and economic analysis results of the pilot project in Changshu indicated that the overall influent concentration was low with large fluctuations, and the qualified effluent rate was relatively low. Moreover, the equipment investment accounted for 51.24% of the overall construction investment of the project, so more economical equipment (1 m 3 /day and 20 m 3 /day) should be adopted in rural domestic wastewater treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaolin Zhao & Jing Yang & Rubin Han & Hui Luo & Limin Chen & Meng Liu & Baojie He, 2025. "Modular Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Rural Domestic Wastewater: Laboratory Performance and Field Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4427-:d:1654771
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4427/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4427/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4427-:d:1654771. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.