ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effects of Supplemental Aeration on Total
Nitrogen Removal in a Floating Helophytes Filter
(FHF) for Wastewater Treatment
Ana Verdejo, María Dolores Curt, Jesús Fernández
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Department of Plant Production: Botany and Plant Protection, Politechnical University of Madrid,
Av. Complutense s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2015;24(1):307-316
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Although different systems of Constructed Wetlands (CW) for wastewater treatment have been in operation
for more than 30 years, some aspects could still be much improved, such as the nutrients removal percentage
and the avoidance of substrate clogging. This paper reports on an experiment conducted to assess the
performance of a floating helophytes filter (FHF) to remove total nitrogen (TN) and the effect of supplemental
aeration on nitrification and denitrification. The supply of external aeration to the FHF system reduced significantly
(p<0.05) the TN final concentration in spring, summer, and autumn experiments, whereas in the
winter experiment a strong N-NO¯3 accumulation was recorded in the FHF-aerated treatment that resulted in
a poorer TN removal percentage (p>0.05). Low organic matter concentration is the most likely cause of the
denitrification slowdown in the winter experiment.