Municipal wastewater treatment through vertical flow constructed wetlands: A demonstration in tropical climate region

Eco-friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable treatment systems for wastewater treatment become a focal path to overcome the water crises, especially in developing countries like India, where the majority of people lived in rural areas. This research presents the outcome of vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCWs) for municipal wastewater treatment to compensate for water stress. A treatment unit was designed and installed planted with Phragmites australis and operated at a constant flow rate of 100 m3/d providing with 50% of effluent recycling, corresponding hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1.92 d. Six months’ operation and monitoring show significantly (P-value<0.001) very efficient and competent result in the removal of 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity. The removal efficiencies were obtained 84.65%, 81.5%, 85.6%, and 83.12%, respectively. The results revealed that VFCWs is a very feasible option for wastewater treatment, particularly in rural areas and small settlements.