Selección de Plantas Acuáticas y Sustratos para el Tratamiento de Efluentes de Predio Lecheros Utilizando Sistemas Wetland

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the optimum combination “macrophyte + substrate” to be used in horizontal subsurface flow wetlands (HSFW) constructed for the treatment of dairy farm wastewater. Sixteen microcosm-scale
reactors simulating HSFWs were disposed in a greenhouse by duplicate to evaluate the efficiency of different “substrate + macrophyte” combinations. Two substrates (leca and a combination of gravel+zeolit) and three macropytes (Typha domingensis, Phragmites australis, Canna indica) were evaluated. To evaluate the efficiency of different treatments, pH, conductivity, suspended solids, total Kjeldhal nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate, total phosphorus and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were determined in the effluent before and after the treatment of each reactor. HSFW’s were efficient in the contaminant removal, resulting in suitable systems for dairy effluent treatment. The best performances were obtained using leca as substrate. Typha domingensis and Phragmites australis demonstrated to be suitable macrophytes to be used in the treatment.