Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems
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Our constructed wetland treatment systems have been in use for more
than 20 years to treat industrial wastewaters in the electric utility
and mining industries. Our work in this field includes the applied
research and the development of design criteria and design tools to
rapidly assess the application of wetland technologies for specific
wastewaters. Currently we are developing improved design criteria for
vertical flow wetlands (VFWs) to remove trace metal pollutants, such as
selenium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and lead from industrial
wastewaters.
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| Albright Wetland Treatment System
This project was one of the earliest applications of passive treatment to wastewater compliance in the electric utility industry. The system has been in continuous service since 1988, removing metals from CCB leachate. It has provided invaluable data on the long-term performance and maintenance requirements of passive systems.
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| Springdale Constructed Wetland Treatment System
This research and compliance system was among the first to test multiple passive technologies in combination for a wide suite of parameters. Results led to the development of the Phased Element Removal Technology approach to modular system design The project has received three design awards.
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| Hatfield Passive Treatment System
This modular passive treatment system provides removal of aluminum, iron, and manganese in leachate from a CCB landfill. This pump and treat system was one of the first large-scale applications of manganese-oxidizing bacteria beds to CCB wastewater. It includes a unique flow-dividing design to create parallel flow paths in vegetated wetland cells to maximize treatment efficiency.
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| Harrison Passive Wetland Treatment System
Representing one of the largest compliance passive water treatment systems in the electric utility industry, this 10-acre system is the first to use reducing vertical flow wetlands to remove hexavalent chromium and selenium. It also has components targeted at arsenic co-precipitation with iron, and for aluminum removal.
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| North Spring Branch Passive Treatment System
Unique to this wetland treatment project is a baseflow isolation system, where diffuse seepage entering a stream from a closed wood waste landfill was collected by a drainage bed in the original stream channel and conveyed to wetland treatment cells. A new stream channel was then constructed on top of the drainage bed to convey clean runoff around the system.
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| Arnot Acid Mine Drainage Treatment System
This vertical flow wetland system uses a split flow design to treat acid mine drainage. The design over-treats a portion of the flow and recombines the treated and untreated waters to neutralize the entire flow. This design significantly reduces the component sizing requirements and extends the functional life of the system.
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| Pilot Study for Flue Gas Desulfurization Discharges
This project is a pilot-scale field test to evaluate the effectiveness of vertical flow wetlands to remove selenium and mercury in FGD wastewaters. After a year of testing the results show removal efficiencies of 90 percent indicating that this technology can provide substantial improvements in water quality at significant cost savings.
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