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This study investigated the ability of a 10-yr-old constructed wetland to treat metal-contaminated leachate emanating from a coal ash
pile at the Widows Creek electric utility, Alabama (USA). The two
vegetated cells, which were dominated by cattail (Typha latifolia L.)
and soft rush ( Juncus effusus L.), were very effective at removing Fe
and Cd from the wastewater, but less efficient for Zn, S, B, and Mn.
The concentrations were decreased by up to 99% for Fe, 91% for
Cd, 63% for Zn, 61% for S, 58% for Mn, and 50% for B. Higher pH
levels (6) in standing water substantially improved the removing
efficiency of the wetland for Mn only. The belowground tissues of
both cattail and soft rush had high concentrations of all elements;
only for Mn, however, did the concentration in the shoots exceed
those in the belowground tissues. The concentrations of trace elements
in fallen litter were higher than in the living shoots, but lower than in
the belowground tissues. The trace element accumulation in the plants
accounted for less than 2.5% of the annual loading of each trace
element into the wetland. The sediments were the primary sinks for
the elements removed from the wastewater. Except for Mn, the concentrations of trace elements in the upper layer (05 cm) of the sediment
profile tended to be higher than the lower layers (510 and 1015
cm). We conclude that constructed wetlands are still able to efficiently
remove metals in the long term (i.e., 10 yr after construction).
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Fig. 1. Plan diagram of the Widows Creek constructed wetland in Jackson County, Alabama. Cells 1, 2, and 3 enclosed 630, 3120, and 1050
m2, respectively.
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Collection of Samples
The plants, water, and sediments were sampled in Cells 1
and 2 only. To ensure randomized sampling, three 1-m2 areas
per cell were chosen using the standard grid sampling technique (USEPA, 1989). Three whole-plant samples (root and
shoot) of the dominant species, cattail and soft rush, were
collected from each cell. The plants were collected in triplicates on a monthly basis except for November, December,
and January, when the plant shoots were senescent; samples
of plant fallen litter were collected during the winter months.
Samples were collected in triplicate on a quarterly basis from
each cell. Water samples were collected from the inlet to Cell 1
and the outlet from Cell 2. Sediment profiles (5-cm cores of
the 0- to 15-cm layers as described by Boulding, 1994) and sediment pore water (Rhizon soil moisture filter, 10 cm, 0.1-m
pore size [Ben Meadows, Canton, GA]) were collected in the
randomly assigned sampling areas. Plant density was determined from monthly counts of cattail and soft rush shoots in
five randomly selected 0.25-m2 areas within each cell. The
biomass of cattail and soft rush per unit sampling area was
determined as the product of the dry weight of each whole
shoot (an average of five shoots) and the plant density in each
sampling area. The pH and temperature were measured monthly
using a Corning Checkmate modular system (Fisher Scientific,
Pittsburgh, PA) at the center of each cell, where possible.
RESULTS
Temperature and pH of the Surface Water
The pH and temperature of the surface water in
Cells 1 and 2 were not significantly different (p 0.05,
two-tailed t test), so the data presented in Fig. 2 are
averaged for measurements taken in both cells. The
initial surface water pH in Cells 1 and 2 (May 1996)
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Fig. 3. Temporal changes in trace element concentrations in the inlet water to Cell 1 and the outlet water from Cell 2. Figures above the bars
indicate the percentage reduction in trace element concentration for that month.
L1, respectively, which are identical to their mean concentrations in the inlet water.
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Fig. 4. Mean trace element concentrations in the sediments of Cell 1 and Cell 2 measured at three depths in the sediment profile: 0 to 5 cm, 5
to 10 cm, and 10 to 15 cm. Means are calculated from measurements taken over the entire study (standard error of the mean [SE], n 5).
son, the trace element uptake by the plants is summarized as averages calculated from samples collected over
the entire study period (Table 1). The concentrations
of all elements (except Mn) in the belowground tissues
were typically greater than the concentrations in the
aboveground tissues and, in some cases, more than 60
times greater. The trace element concentrations in the
fallen litter were comparable with the belowground tissues (Table 1). Moreover, the concentrations of the six
trace elements in both the aboveground and belowground tissues followed the same order as their concentrations in both the sediments and the inlet water,
that is, Fe S Mn B Zn Cd (Fig. 4 and Table 1).
Fig. 5. Changes in plant density and shoot biomass for cattail and
soft rush. Values are averages of samples collected from both cells.
DISCUSSION
Trace Element Removal by Wetlands
and Role of Vegetation
It has been suggested that constructed wetlands have
a finite and short life span with respect to metal reten-
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Fig. 6. Trace element concentrations in the aboveground tissues of cattail (black circles) and soft rush (unfilled circles). Monthly means are
calculated from plant samples collected from both cells, error bars indicate standard error of the mean (SE).
plants (cattail and soft rush) per square meter (Table 2).
With respect to the total loadings of trace elements
in the inflow, the aboveground plant tissues therefore
retained less than 1.9% of the annual loading (Table 2).
This highlights the minor role of metal uptake by the
plant shoots in the efficiency of metal removal from
wastewater by wetlands. Similarly, Mitsch and Wise
(1998) reported the bioaccumulation of Fe in plant
shoots as only accounting for 0.07% of the annual load-
Table 1. Mean concentrations of the six trace elements in the living and senescent tissue of cattail and soft rush (mean SE, n 12,
except fallen litter, where n 3).
Trace element concentrations
Element
Cattail shoots
Cattail roots
Fallen litter
kg1
Fe
Mn
S
B
Zn
Cd
320
1 097
2 495
46
27
0.24
31
114
260
4
7
0.08
1 217
312
3 853
41
54
0.5
176
38
143
5
8
0.2
mg
41 318
200
6 026
113
42
10
5 248
15
699
14
4
1
68 469
117
6 885
248
55
27
8 574
13
567
42
4
5
51 626
502
4 128
181
34
14
6 811
102
502
16
5
2
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Fig. 7. Trace element concentrations in the belowground tissues of cattail (black circles) and soft rush (unfilled circles). Monthly means are
calculated from plant samples collected from both cells, error bars indicate standard error of the mean (SE).
Table 2. Annual trace element loading into the wetland, the total mass of trace elements accumulated in the plant material, and the
contribution of trace element accumulation in the plants to removal by the wetland. Total treatment area of the wetland 3600 m2,
average flow rate in inlet 70 L min1. The data for quarterly flow rate in the inlet were provided by the Widows Creek Fossil Plant
in Alabama, based on averages of frequent measurements they recorded.
Fe
Annual loading into the wetland, g
Accumulation in plants, g m2
Cattail shoots
Soft rush shoots
Fallen litter
Percent of the annual loading
Cattail and soft rush shoots
Fallen litter
m 2
yr1
967
Mn
80
S
4875
B
24
Zn
Cd
1.41
0.49
0.16
0.29
13.4
0.56
0.076
0.13
1.27
0.93
1.07
0.014
0.013
0.01
0.02
0.01
0.05
0.0001
0.0001
0.004
0.05
1.38
0.80
0.16
0.05
0.02
1.90
0.63
0.14
0.20
0.05
0.76
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combustion by-product leachate (Ye et al., 2001). Although the sediment contains a large volume of pore
water, the low element concentrations in this fraction
do not contribute significantly to the overall element
budget in the wetland.
CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that constructed wetlands
sustain high efficiency of trace element removal from
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