Abstract
Phosphorous removal rate and emergent plant growth were examined of a surface-flow constructed treatment wetland system, whose dimensions were 31 meter in length and 12 meter in width. The system was established on floodplain in the down reach of the Kwangju Stream in Korea in one and half months from May to June 2001. Cattails(Typha angustiflora) were transplanted in the system. They were dug out of natural wetlands and stems were cut at about 40 cm height from their bottom ends. Water of the Kwangju Stream were funneled into it via a pipe by gravity flow and its effluent were discharged back into it. The stems of cattails grew from 45.2 cm in July 2001 up to 186 cm in September 2001 and the number of cattail stems per square meter increased from 22 in July 2001 to 53 in September 2001. The early establishment of cattails was good. Volume and water quality of inflow and outflow were analyzed from July 2001 through December 2001. Inflow averaged $40\;m^3/day$ and hydraulic retention time was about 1.5 days. The concentration of total phosphorous in influent and effluent was 0.85 mg/L, 0.41 mg/L, respectively. The average removal rate of total phosphorous in the system was about 52%. The retention efficiency was slightly lower, compared with that in surface-flow wetlands operating in North America, whose retention efficiency was reported to be about 57%. The lower abatement rate could result from the initial stage of the system and inclusion of two cold months into the six-month monitoring period. Root rhizosphere in wetland soils and litter-soil layers on bottoms were not properly developed. Increase of standing density of cattails within a few years will establish both root zones and substrates beneficial to the removal of phosphorous, which may lead to increase of the phosphorous retention rate. The system was submerged one time by heavy storm during the monitoring period. The inundation, however, scarcely disturb its environment.