Development of Up- and Down-flow Constructed Wetland for Advanced Wastewater Treatment in Rural Communities

The feasibility of the up- and down-flow constructed wetland was examined fur rural wastewater treatment in Korea. Many constructed wetland process was suffered from substrate clogging and high plant stresses because of long term operation. The up- and down-flow constructed wetland process used porous granule materials (charcoal pumice : SSR=10:20:70) for promoting intake rate of nutrient to plant, and especially flow type was designed continuously repeating from up-flow to down-flow. $BOD_5$ and SS was removed effectively by the process with the average removal rate being about 75% respectively. The wetland process was effective in treating nutrient as well as organic pollutant. Removal of TN and TP were more effective than other wetland system and mean effluent concentrations were approximately 7.5 and $0.4mg\;L^{-1}$ which satisfied the water quality standard for WWTPs. The treatment system did not experience any clogging or accumulations of pollutants and reduction of treatment efficiency during winter period because constructed polycarbonate glass structure prevented temperature drop. Considering stable performance and effective removal of pollutant in wastewater, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, the up- and down-flow constructed wetland was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative in rural area.