Implications of Constructed Wetlands Wastewater Treatment for Sustainable Planning in Developing World

Wastewater is a necessary by-product of human activities in his built environment. A sustainable wastewater treatment infrastructure plays a very important role in order to achieve best practices in man’s built environment. The paper adopted a qualitative research approach to examine the wastewater planning and treatment facilities in Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria and the implications its processes, products and potentials have for sustainable campus and community planning. It reviewed existing literature providing an overview of wastewater treatment strategies and technologies while highlighting their essential features. Interview of stakeholders responsible for wastewater treatment in the community and on-site case study inspection formed the basis for the result deductions. Physical planning and layout, operation and maintenance cost, infrastructural facilities and equipment to compliment effective functioning of Covenant University Constructed Wetland Wastewater Treatment Plant (CU-CWWTP) were examined. Result showed that the initial cost of erecting a constructed wetland wastewater treatment plant is enormous, but highly cost-effective in terms of operation and maintenance. Furthermore, wastewater is effectively treated and transmitted as dischargeable safe water with advantage of non-toxic fertilizer as an end-product. It is recommended that the CU-CWWTP model should be understudied by community administrators at all governance level with a bid to deploying same for effective wastewater treatment in communities in developing nations