Municipal wastewater treatment by sequential combination of photocatalytic oxidation with constructed wetlands

Aim of the present work is the study and the experimental evaluation of an alternative and innovative wastewater treatment system, which combines the action of photocatalytic oxidation with the surface flow constructed wetlands. This low cost and environmental friendly system is based on the utilization of solar irradiation and natural processes for wastewater treatment purposes. Experiments were conducted at laboratory scale using artificial as well as solar irradiation, for the treatment of both synthetic and cesspool wastewater. The data evaluation revealed that the combined system may effectively reduce the organic load, the nutrients, as well as the pathogenic bacteria of wastewater, even in cases of great inflow variability, in terms of hydraulic and organic load, and thus may be proven a promising solution for municipal wastewater treatment in the near future. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.