Removal Mechanisms for Water Pollutant in Constructed Wetlands: Review Paper

In these days, constructed wetlands are applied in Korea for various purposes ; post-treatment of effluent in wastewater treatment, management of stormwater and restoration of aquatic ecosystems. However, the removal mechanisms for water pollutant in constructed wetlands are not clearly understood because they are affected by climate, influent characteristics and local constraints. Therefore, this paper is focused on the process that the pollutant, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, of the wetland is removed by. In this study, the main nitrogen removal is performed by nitrification/denitrification mechanism in the rhizosphere of constructed wetlands. And the majority of the phosphorus is removed by adsorption on the substrate of wetland. However the fate of phosphorus in wetlands can be diverse depending on the Oxidation Reduction Potential(ORP), adsorption/desorption, precipitation/dissolution, microbial effect, etc.