Optimization and action mechanism of pollutant removal performance of unsaturated vertical flow constructed wetland (UVFCW) driven by substained-release carbon source

Yuechang Wang; Lin-Lan Zhuang; Shuang Liu; Yuanjun Su; Zhen Hu; Jian Zhang; Xiaoping Wang; Shaoming Cui; Gang Peng; Shuting Xie

doi:10.7717/peerj.18819

Optimization and action mechanism of pollutant removal performance of unsaturated vertical flow constructed wetland (UVFCW) driven by substained-release carbon source

PeerJ. 2025 Jan 16:13:e18819. doi: 10.7717/peerj.18819. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Yuechang Wang^{1

2}, Lin-Lan Zhuang¹, Shuang Liu³, Yuanjun Su³, Zhen Hu¹, Jian Zhang¹, Xiaoping Wang², Shaoming Cui², Gang Peng², Shuting Xie³

Affiliations

¹ Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
² Beijing Further Tide Eco-Construction Co., Ltd, Beijing, China.
³ Further Tide Eco-Construction (Hubei) Co., Ltd, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

Constructed wetland (CW) technology has attracted much attention due to its economical and environmentally friendly features. The low dissolved oxygen (DO) and low carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the wetland influent water affect the treatment performance of CW, resulting in a decrease in the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen (NH₄ ⁺-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO₃ ^--N). In order to address this problem, this study optimized the pollutants removal performance of unsaturated vertical flow constructed wetland (UVFCW) by adding sustained-release carbon sources (corn cobs + polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT)). The results showed that the sustained-release of carbon source increased the carbon source in UVFCW, thus increasing the abundance and activity of denitrifying microorganisms and enhancing the denitrification reaction, ultimately improving the removal of NO₃ ^--N, with its removal efficiency reaching up to 95.50%. The placement method of sustained-release carbon source mainly affected the distribution of carbon source and DO in water body, thus influencing the relative abundance of microorganisms, finally affecting the removal of pollutants. Among them, the removal efficiency of total nitrogen (TN), NO₃ ^--N, and total phosphorus (TP), and the relative abundance of denitrifying microorganisms in the CW_R-Cu (uniform placement of sustained-release carbon source) were significantly higher than those in the CW_R-Ca (centralized placement above) and CW_R-Cb (centralized placement below) (p < 0.05). The surface C:O (carbon:oxygen) ratio of sustained-release carbon source after water treatment showed a decreasing trend, and CW_R-Cu exhibited the greatest decrease in C:O ratio. In summary, CW_R-Cu achieved the highest utilization of the carbon source and produced the largest number of heterotrophic microorganisms. This study reveals that CW_R-Cu is a structural process for the efficient removal of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants, and our findings provide theoretical basis and technical support for actual projects.

Keywords: Carbon source placement method; Denitrification; Nitrogen removal; Sustained-release carbon source; UVFCW.

MeSH terms

Carbon* / metabolism
Denitrification
Nitrogen* / metabolism
Phosphorus / isolation & purification
Phosphorus / metabolism
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / metabolism
Water Purification / methods
Wetlands*

Substances

Carbon
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Nitrogen
Phosphorus

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 51925803), National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2021YFC3200602) and Beijing Further Tide Eco-construction Co., Ltd (2023YLCRD001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.