Thursday, June 17, 2010

the best Treatment wetlands books

I list below the best books you can use for design and understand the wetland systems (buy online onhttp://www.amazon.com/ orhttp://www.ibs.it/):


Constructed Wetlands in the Sustainable Landscape

(Craig S. Campbell, Michael Ogden)

Treatment Wetlands, Second Edition

(Robert H. Kadlec, Scott d Wallace)

Biogeochemistry of Wetlands: Science and Applications

(K. Ramesh Reddy, Ronald D. DeLaune)

Wetland Plants: Biology and Ecology

(Julie K. Cronk , M. Siobhan Fennessy)

Wastewater Treatment in Constructed Wetlands with Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow (Environmental Pollution)

(Jan Vymazal, Lenka Kröpfelová)

Small Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems: Feasibility, Design Criteria and O&M Requirements (Werf Reports)

(S D Wallace, R L Knight)

Efficient Management of Wastewater, Its Treatment and Reuse in Water Scarce Countries”,

(Al Baz Ismail, Otterpohl Ralf, Wendland Claudia)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Constructing a wetland model



Fantastic.. visit the site http://www.play-with-water.ch, build up your own domestic wetland and play with it.From the "play-with-water" web site I report this summary that allow you to build up a teaching wetland:


Time requirement

  • Preparation time: 2-3 hours (incl. shopping)
  • Teaching time: 1.5 hours

Material requirement

  • 1 transparent plastic box 35*23*31cm
  • 15 kg of gravel 4-16mm
  • 25 litre of expanded clay (LECA) 1-4 mm
  • 2 plastic buckets (10 litres)
  • 25 cm transparent plastic hoses, diameter 20 mm
  • 1 plastic water tap (with screw and nut)
  • 1 measure cup 1 litre
  • 1 measuring tape (tailor)
  • 1 roll adhesive tape
  • plants: e.g. indoor plants,
    Umbrella Papyrus (
    Cyperus alternifolius), rush (Juncus spec.)
  • additional equipment (scissors, pen, sponge, towel, paper, etc.)



Thursday, June 10, 2010

UNEP & constructed wetland

The United Nations Environment Programme

International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC)

Division of Technology, Industry and Economics

have a specific focus on Water and Sanitation ActivitiesAbuot this, they speech on Phytotechnology and Water. From the http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/ web site:

"The term Phytotechnology is the application of science and engineering to study problems and provide solutions involving vegetation to a variety of environmental conditions. It is based on use of the ecosystem services provided by plants. Some examples of its application include the reduction and control of pollution through wetland systems, restoration of degraded natural or industrial land, carbon sinks and ameliorating the effects and impacts of climate change.

IETC application of Phytotechnology relates to the use of wetlands for water quality, and sanitation improvement, wastewater treatment as well as for the restoration of degraded aquatic ecosystems. Artificially constructed wetlands are considered as one of the best options due to their low costs and environmental and social friendliness particularly when compared with other conventional technological approaches. To facilitate the design of artificial subsurface flow wetlands a software application has been developed (SubWet 2.0) while SufWet 1.0 for surface flow wetland systems, and WetRestore wetland restoration assessment.

IETC has implemented a project in Brazil using SubWet 2.0 and Iraq to treat domestic wastewater. The forthcoming project Sanitation and Water Efficiency Enhancing Technologies (SWEET) uses SubWet 2.0 as one of the main tools. A self-learning Interactive Training Package considering the above mentioned software application and others will be produced during the 2010."

More info about the vision of UNEP on constructed wetland: http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/publications/freshwater/watershed_manual/03_management-10.pdf

great idea in The Radix Ecological Sustainabilty Center


In the site http://radixcenter.org you can find a lot of great solutions to promote ecological literacy and environmental stewardship through educational programs based around demonstrations of sustainable technologies.

The following constructed wetland was developed by Radix Center: Fantastic!


from the site http://radixcenter.org: "This system consists of several bathtubs filled with gravel, which have water plants growing inside them. Wastewater passing through the aerobic root zones of the plants is cleaned by the bacteria living there. The bacteria consume organic nutrients while the plants themselves uptake nitrogen and phosphorus. By the time it exists the system, the water has been made safe for reuse in irrigating vegetable crops. Plants used in this system include: bulrush, taro, cattail, papyrus, swamp hibiscus, canna lilly and phragmittes reeds.