Within the "Thursday Seminar" cycle of the FACSA Chair of Innovation in the Integrated Water Cycle of the Universitat Jaume I (UJI), Miguel Martín, professor of the University of the Area of Environmental Technologies of the Universitat Politècnica de València, gave a presentation last week on the value of artificial wetlands as instruments for environmental improvement in the natural environment and the urban area.
During the talk, Martín provided a historical overview of wastewater treatment and the natural solutions applied to it. In this regard, he asserted that "the intensive solutions adopted in recent years are efficient in terms of economies of scale," although in "small municipalities, with variable flow rates, intensive technologies have a weakness." Therefore, he continued, "extensive solutions can be an option for addressing sanitation when economic resources are scarce, especially in developing areas.".
In this regard, the professor pointed to constructed wetlands as a possible solution, listing a series of associated qualities: “These facilities are simple to build, have low maintenance costs, and handle flow variations well. Furthermore, they are efficient enough to remove solids and pollutants and offer excellent landscape, environmental, and social integration, creating new habitats and enabling water reuse.”.
Finally, the professor indicated that, compared to the designs of extensive accessible solutions that usually use an average of 4 m2 per inhabitant, in artificial wetlands improvements are being achieved that allow reducing to up to 2 m2 per inhabitant, with the environmental benefit that this entails.
However, Martín wanted to point out a series of drawbacks associated with this type of installation, highlighting "its lack of operational flexibility, the necessary extension, clogging by solids and the low yields for the removal of ammonia".
Learn more about the training activities organized by the FACSA Chair of Innovation in the Integrated Water Cycle at UJI at www.catedradelagua.es.
