CONSTRUCTED WETLAND TECHNOLOGY FOR DOMESTIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Natural wetlands with various on-going complex physiological, chemical and biological processes in them, provideinherent self-treatment service of the nature. All these treatment processes are imitated in constructed wetlands.Constructed wetlands, so called as natural treatment systems, are widely used for treatment of domestic, industrial andagricultural wastewaters. The constructed wetland technology is composed of specially design basins filled withsubstrate filter materials and planted with aquatic species, inlet and outlet structures to regulate the flow regime withinthe basin and to remove various pollutants from the wastewaters. In case relevant criteria were not taken intoconsideration in design, operation, maintenance and monitoring of these systems, irremediable or irreversible failuresare evident. Therefore, national and international standards, influent wastewater characteristics, site geography andclimate conditions should be considered in design, constructions should be carried out precisely and operationmaintenance-monitoring activities should also be followed to meet the desired performance expectations. In this study,use of constructed wetland technology in domestic wastewater treatment was explained and potential mistakes made indesign and operation of these systems was pointed out.