International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment (ICSBE-2010)

Abstract: Wastewater treatment has given an immense attention in the field of pollution control throughout the world. This has become a challenge in developing countries due to the limitations of resources and expertise. Constructed wetlands where water, plants and microorganisms interact to improve the quality of water have been proven to be an effective low-cost wastewater treatment technology in many parts of the world, which does not necessarily require skilled personnel to run the system. However, these systems are not yet widely spread in developing countries due to lack of information. Constructed wetlands can be designed as surface flow or subsurface flow systems, depending on the level of the water column. This study compares the performance of vertical subsurface flow (VSSF) and horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) constructed wetland systems at laboratory scale at tropical condition. This paper also evaluates the effects of Hydraulic Loading Rate (HLR) on treatment capacity of wastewater parameters such a