Removal of arsenic by pilot-scale vertical flow constructed wetland

Abstract

• VFCWs are effective for the treatment of arsenic-containing wastewater.

• Arsenic removal did not affect the removal of nutrients, except for TP in CW500.

• Arsenic removal was highest when the temperature peaked and the reed was in bloom.

• Substrate accumulation contributed more to arsenic removal than plant absorption.

Four pilot-scale Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands (VFCWs) filled with gravel and planted with Phragmites australis were operated for seven months in the field to study the efficiency of arsenic removal in contaminated wastewater. The average arsenic removal efficiency by the VFCWs was 52.0%±20.2%, 52.9%±21.3%, and 40.3%±19.4% at the theoretical concentrations of 50 μg/L (CW50), 100 μg/L (CW100), and 500 μg/L (CW500) arsenic in the wastewater, respectively. The results also showed no significant differences in the removal efficiency for conventional contaminants (nitrogen, phosphorus, or chemical oxygen demand) between wastewater treatments that did or did not contain arsenic (P>0.05), except for phosphorus in CW500. The highest average monthly removal rate of arsenic occurred in August (55.9%–74.5%) and the lowest in November (7.8%–15.5%). The arsenic removal efficiency of each VFCW was positively correlated with temperature (P<0.05). Arsenic accumulated in both substrates and plants, with greater accumulation associated with increased arsenic concentrations in the influent. The maximum accumulated arsenic concentrations in the substrates and plants at the end of the experiment were 4.47 mg/kg and 281.9 mg/kg, respectively, both present in CW500. The translocation factor (TF) of arsenic in the reeds was less than 1, with most of the arsenic accumulating in the roots. The arsenic mass balance indicated that substrate accumulation contributed most to arsenic removal (19.9%–30.4%), with lower levels in plants (3.8%–9.5%). In summary, VFCWs are effective for the treatment of arsenic-containing wastewater.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Constructed wetland / Arsenic / Removal efficiency / Mass balance

References

[1] Ahoulé D G, Lalanne F, Mendret J, Brosillon S, Maïga A H (2015). Arsenic in African waters: A review. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 226(9): 302

[2] Akinbile C O, Haque A M M (2012). Arsenic contamination in irrigation water for rice production in Bangladesh: A review. Trends in Applied Sciences Research, 7: 331–349

[3] Alonso D L, Latorre S, Castillo E, Brandao P F (2014). Environmental occurrence of arsenic in Colombia: A review. Environmental Pollution, 186: 272–281

[4] American Public Health Association (2005). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. Washington, DC: American Public Health

[5] Arroyo P, Ansola G, Miera L E S D (2013). Effects of substrate, vegetation and flow on arsenic and zinc removal efficiency and microbial diversity in constructed wetlands. Ecological Engineering, 51: 95–103

[6] Avigliano E, Leisen M, Romero R, Carvalho B, Velasco G, Vianna M, Barra F, Volpedo A V (2017). Fluvio-marine travelers from South America: Cyclic amphidromy and freshwater residency, typical behaviors in Genidens barbus inferred by otolith chemistry. Fisheries Research, 193: 184–194

[7] Bonanno G, Lo Giudice R (2010). Heavy metal bioaccumulation by the organs of Phragmites australis (common reed) and their potential use as contamination indicators. Ecological Indicators, 10(3): 639–645

[8] Buddhawong S, Kuschk P, Mattusch J, Wiessner A, Stottmeister U (2005). Removal of arsenic and zinc using different laboratory model wetland systems. Engineering in Life Sciences, 5(3): 247–252

[9] Bundschuh J, Litter M I, Parvez F, Roman-Ross G, Nicolli H B, Jean J S, Liu C W, Lopez D, Armienta M A, Guilherme L R, Cuevas A G, Cornejo L, Cumbal L, Toujaguez R (2012). One century of arsenic exposure in Latin America: A review of history and occurrence from 14 countries. Science of the Total Environment, 429: 2–35

[10] Corroto C, Iriel A, Cirelli A F, Carrera A L P (2019). Constructed wetlands as an alternative for arsenic removal from reverse osmosis effluent. Science of the Total Environment, 691: 1242–1250

[11] Dasgupta T, Hossain S A, Meharg A A, Price A H (2004). An arsenate tolerance gene on chromosome 6 of rice. New Phytologist, 163(1): 45–49

[12] Gorme J B, Maniquiz M C, Lee S, Kim L H (2012). Seasonal changes of plant biomass at a constructed wetland in a livestock watershed area. Desalination and Water Treatment, 45(1–3): 136–143

[13] He S, Wang X, Wu X, Yin Y, Ma L Q (2020). Using rice as a remediating plant to deplete bioavailable arsenic from paddy soils. Environment International, 141: 105799

[14] Khaska M, Le Gal La Salle C, Verdoux P, Boutin R (2015). Tracking natural and anthropogenic origins of dissolved arsenic during surface and groundwater interaction in a post-closure mining context: Isotopic constraints. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 177–178: 122–135

[15] Lage C R, Nayak A, Kim C H (2006). Arsenic ecotoxicology and innate immunity. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 46(6): 1040–1054

[16] Li T, Fan Y, Cun D, Song X, Dai Y, Wang F, Wu C, Liang W (2020). Treatment performance and microbial response to dibutyl phthalate contaminated wastewater in vertical flow constructed wetland mesocosms. Chemosphere, 246: 125635

[17] Liu S, Hou Y, Sun G (2013). Synergistic degradation of pyrene and volatilization of arsenic by cocultures of bacteria and a fungus. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 7(2): 191–199

[18] Lizama-Allende K, Fletcher T D, Sun G (2011). Removal processes for arsenic in constructed wetlands. Chemosphere, 84(8): 1032–1043

[19] Lizama-Allende K, Fletcher T D, Sun G (2012). The effect of substrate media on the removal of arsenic, boron and iron from an acidic wastewater in planted column reactors. Chemical Engineering Journal, 179: 119–130

[20] Lizama-Allende K, Jaque J, Ayala G, Montes-Atenas E, Leiva (2018). Arsenic removal using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands: A sustainable alternative for arsenic-rich acidic waters. Water (Basel), 10(10): 1447

[21] Lizama-Allende K, Mccarthy D T, Fletcher T D (2014). The influence of media type on removal of arsenic, iron and boron from acidic wastewater in horizontal flow wetland microcosms planted with Phragmites australis. Chemical Engineering Journal, 246: 217–228

[22] Lu H, Li J, Liu X, Yu Z, Liu R (2019). Removal of fluoride and arsenic by a hybrid constructed wetland system. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 16(7): e1900078

[23] Mochizuki H (2019). Arsenic neurotoxicity in humans. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(14): 3418

[24] Naujokas M F, Anderson B, Ahsan H, Aposhian H V, Graziano J H, Thompson C, Suk W A (2013). The broad scope of health effects from chronic arsenic exposure: update on a worldwide public health problem. Environmental Health Perspectives, 121(3): 295–302

[25] Nicomel N R, Leus K, Folens K, Van Der Voort P, Du Laing G (2015). Technologies for arsenic removal from water: current status and future perspectives. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(1): ijerph13010062

[26] Payne K B, Abdel-Fattah T M (2005). Adsorption of arsenate and arsenite by iron-treated activated carbon and zeolites: Effects of pH, temperature, and ionic strength. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A: Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering, 40(4): 723–749

[27] Qi X, Li T, Wang F, Dai Y, Liang W (2018). Removal efficiency and enzymatic mechanism of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) by constructed wetlands. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 25(23): 23009–23017

[28] Rahman K Z, Wiessner A, Kuschk P, Van Afferden M, Mattusch J, Müller R A (2011). Fate and distribution of arsenic in laboratory-scale subsurface horizontal-flow constructed wetlands treating an artificial wastewater. Ecological Engineering, 37(8): 1214–1224

[29] Rahman K Z, Wiessner A, Kuschk P, Van Afferden M, Mattusch J, Müller R A (2014). Removal and fate of arsenic in the rhizosphere of Juncus effusus treating artificial wastewater in laboratory-scale constructed wetlands. Ecological Engineering, 69: 93–105

[30] Ren W, Ni D, Liu Y, Yang G, Zhang H, Zhao L, Wang Y (2019). Accumulation and transportation of arsenic to wetland plant Typha angustifolia L. in the herbaceous plants grown in arsenic-contaminated habitat. Research of Environmental Science and Pollution, 32(5): 848–856 (in Chinese)

[31] Rodríguez-Lado L, Sun G, Berg M, Zhang Q, Xue H, Zheng Q, Johnson C A (2013). Groundwater arsenic contamination throughout China. Science, 341(6148): 866–868

[32] Roy M, Giri A K, Dutta S, Mukherjee P (2015). Integrated phytobial remediation for sustainable management of arsenic in soil and water. Environment International, 75: 180–198

[33] Schwindaman J P, Castle J W, Rodgers J H Jr (2014). Fate and distribution of arsenic in a process-designed pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system. Ecological Engineering, 68: 251–259

[34] Singh A P, Goel R K, Kaur T (2011). Mechanisms pertaining to arsenic toxicity. Toxicology International, 18(2): 87–93

[35] Singh R, Singh S, Parihar P, Singh V P, Prasad S M (2015). Arsenic contamination, consequences and remediation techniques: A review. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 112: 247–270

[36] Singhakant C, Koottatep T, Satayavivad J (2009a). Enhanced arsenic removals through plant interactions in subsurface-flow constructed wetlands. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part A, Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering, 44(2): 163–169

[37] Singhakant C, Koottatep T, Satayavivad J (2009b). Fractional analysis of arsenic in subsurface-flow constructed wetlands with different length to depth ratios. Water Science and Technology, 60(7): 1771–1778

[38] Soares Guimarães L H, Segura F R, Tonani L, Von-Zeska-Kress M R, Rodrigues J L, Calixto L A, Silva F F, Batista B L (2019). Arsenic volatilization by Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. isolated from rice rhizosphere as a promising eco-safe tool for arsenic mitigation. Journal of Environmental Management, 237: 170–179

[39] State Environmental Protection Administration (2002). Methods for monitoring and analysis of water and wastewater, 4rd edn. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press (in Chinese)

[40] Su S, Zeng X, Bai L, Jiang X, Li L (2010). Bioaccumulation and biovolatilisation of pentavalent arsenic by Penicillin janthinellum, Fusarium oxysporum and Trichoderma asperellum under laboratory conditions. Current Microbiology, 61(4): 261–266

[41] Sun G X, Williams P N, Carey A M, Zhu Y G, Deacon C, Raab A, Feldmann J, Islam R M, Meharg A A (2008). Inorganic arsenic in rice bran and its products are an order of magnitude higher than in bulk grain. Environmental Science & Technology, 42(19): 7542–7546

[42] Sundberg-Jones S E, Hassan S M (2007). Macrophyte sorption and bioconcentration of elements in a pilot constructed wetland for flue gas desulfurization wastewater treatment. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 183(1–4): 187–200

[43] Tanne N, Xu R, Zhou M, Zhang P, Wang X, Wen X (2019). Influence of pore size and membrane surface properties on arsenic removal by nanofiltration membranes. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 13(2): 19

[44] Taylor W (2000). Change-point analyzer 2.0 shareware program. Libertyville: Taylor Enterprises

[45] USEPA (1996). Method 3050B: Acid digestion of sediments, sludges, and soils. Revision 2. Washington, DC: United States Environmental Protection Agency

[46] Wang H, Li Y, Zhang S, Li D, Liu X, Wang W, Liu L, Wang Y, Kang L (2020). Effect of influent feeding pattern on municipal tailwater treatment during A sulfur-based denitrification constructed wetland. Bioresource Technology, 315: 123807

[47] Wiessner A, Rahman K Z, Kuschk P, Kastner M, Jechorek M (2010). Dynamics of sulphur compounds in horizontal sub-surface flow laboratory-scale constructed wetlands treating artificial sewage. Water Research, 44(20): 6175–6185

[48] Wu M, Li Q, Tang X, Huang Z, Lin L, Scholz M (2014a). Arsenic(V) removal in wetland filters treating drinking water with different substrates and plants. International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 94(6): 618–638

[49] Wu S, Kuschk P, Brix H, Vymazal J, Dong R (2014b). Development of constructed wetlands in performance intensifications for wastewater treatment: A nitrogen and organic matter targeted review. Water Research, 57: 40–55

[50] Zhang S Y, Williams P N, Luo J, Zhu Y G (2017a). Microbial mediated arsenic biotransformation in wetlands. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 11(1): 1

[51] Zhang Z, Moon H S, Myneni S C B, Jaffé P R (2017b). Phosphate enhanced abiotic and biotic arsenic mobilization in the wetland rhizosphere. Chemosphere, 187: 130–139

[52] Zhao J Y, Guo H M (2013). Study on arsenic removal in the simulating constructed wetland. Advanced Materials Research, 777: 386–389

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press