Nutrient removal by Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. In the constructed wetland system

Abstract

Significant results are achieved with the use of semiaquatic vegetation for purification of municipal wastewater as well as other types of waste waters. The first constructed system for purification of municipal wastewater was made at the end of 1970s years in the United Kingdom, with semiaquatic plants playing the role of phytoremediation plants. In Serbia, municipal waste water purification based on constructed wetland system method was applied for the first time in the village of Glo an near Novi Sad and it was put in operation in 2004. The recipient of purified municipal wastewater has been the Danube River. Biological factors in this anthropogenic ecosystem are emergent plants, with dominance of the common reed. This emergent plant with its roles in phytofiltration and phytoaccumulation positively influences the quality of waters finally discharged into the Danube. The paper presents the results of nutrients (N, P, K), organic matter and total ash contents in dry matter of dominant plant species Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. in Glo an constructed wetland system in the period from 2004 to 2007. © 2014 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.