Constructed wetlands mimic
natural processes that cleanse water. Lined
ponds are filled with gravel and support aquatic vegetation.
The plants and the microorganisms that naturally live on their stems and
roots feed on the elements nitrogen and phosphorus that result from the
breakdown of organic materials in the wastewater. They may also take up metals and other toxins.
Water
now begins to leave the system through processes carried out by the wetland
plants. Plants transpire more than 95% of the water they take in as water vapor.
The water is lost through tiny open pores called stomata in the epidermal
cells of leaves and stems.
Some of the water taken up by plants is broken down during
photosynthesis, the process by which plants capture energy from the sun and fix
it into sugars.
This constructed wetland is the subsurface flow type. The water level is
kept below the gravel to prevent people from coming in contact with the
partially treated water.
Source--->
Septic
Tanks
--->Recirculating
Filtration System--->
Greenhouse
(Subsurface Wetland,
UV Light,
Free
Surface Wetland, Fish Pond)
--->
Discharge
Site
