First Advisor

Brian C. Turner

Date of Award

6-16-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Environmental Science and University Honors

Department

Environmental Science

Language

English

Subjects

Water -- Purification, Constructed wetlands, Aquatic plants -- Utilization, Nutrient pollution of water

DOI

10.15760/honors.1082

Abstract

Wetland numbers are declining worldwide and there is a need to replace the water filtration services they provide. One emerging option is floating treatment wetlands (FTW). FTW are a floating mat that serves as a habitat for aquatic plants whose roots are suspended in the water and that remove both organic and inorganic pollutants like nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), potentially toxic metals, and suspended solids. A literature search was performed to examine the efficacy of FTW pollutant removal. Specifically, I inspected 1) how effective FTW are at removing a range of nutrients; 2) what types of plants are most effective in FTWs; and 3) does FTW’s efficacy differ across water body types (eutrophic water, sewage and domestic water, stormwater runoffs, and industrial wastewaters). Given the potential of FTW, I expected that in all cases, there will be a reduction in all observed criteria. After all the research on FTW, it had a range of effect on nutrient removal efficacy. However, there was no noticeable plant species in a given water body type, except for the plants, Juncus and Pontederia, which were found in eutrophic water, sewage and domestic waters, and stormwater runoffs. Some things to consider for future research to explore were species specific impacts, seasonality and inoculates.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35708

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