Can an Integrated Constructed Wetland in Norfolk Reduce Nutrient Concentrations and Promote In Situ Bird Species Richnes
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CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS
Can an Integrated Constructed Wetland in Norfolk Reduce Nutrient Concentrations and Promote In Situ Bird Species Richness? Olly van Biervliet 1,2
&
Robert J. McInnes 3 & Jonathan Lewis-Phillips 1,2 & Jonah Tosney 1
Received: 1 July 2019 / Accepted: 11 November 2019 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICWs) are potentially effective tools in the effort to restore aquatic ecosystems, and also they incorporate multiple co-benefits. An ICW was constructed in Norfolk, UK, to address the degradation of a stream and lake receiving treated effluent from a small Sewage Treatment Works (STW). Results demonstrated that: (1) nutrient concentrations significantly reduced from the ICW influent to the effluent (percentage reductions: total phosphorus [TP]: 78%, orthophosphate: 80%, total oxidised nitrogen [TON]: 65%, nitrate: 65%, nitrite: 67%, ammoniacal nitrogen: 62%), and mean dissolved oxygen concentrations increased (influent mean: 6.4 ± 1.4 mg l−1 effluent mean: 17.8 ± 3.3 mg l−1), (2) there were non-significant reductions in nutrient concentrations in the receiving stream (percentage reductions: TP: 23%, orthophosphate: 23%, TON: 26%, nitrate: 26%), with the exception of ammoniacal nitrogen (127% increase) and nitrite (76%) after ICW commissioning, and (3) mean in situ avian species richness increased from 10 to 27 species. Thus, the ICW substantially reduced nutrient concentrations, and had in situ conservation benefits. It is recommended that appropriately designed ICWs should be implemented widely and statutory authorities should ensure: 1) best-practice maintenance and 2) final effluent monitoring at both the STW and at the ICW outflows. Keywords Phosphorus . Water quality . Biodiversity . Birds . Land treatment area . Environmental permits
Introduction Despite improvements in the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewaters, the current levels of nutrient fluxes in sewage effluent remain substantially higher than at the beginning of the twentieth century, and are frequently far higher than would be required to elicit ecological recovery of surface waters (Sayer et al. 2010; Bowes et al. 2012, 2016; Naden et al. 2016; McCall et al. 2017). Small rural sewage treatment Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-019-01247-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Olly van Biervliet [email protected] 1
Norfolk Rivers Trust, Bayfield, Norfolk, UK
2
Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK
3
RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd, Littleworth, Oxfordshire, UK
works (STWs) have been implicated in the eutrophication of surface waters in the United Kingdom (Mainstone and Parr 2002; Neal et al. 2005; Jarvie et al. 2006; Roberts and Cooper 2018). Elevated nutrient concentrations in receiving waters downstream of STWs have been shown to result in excessive phytoplankton and periphyton growth which can compromise bot
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