The use of hybrid constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment with special attention to nitrogen removal: A review of a recent development

The hybrid systems were developed in the 1960s but their use increased only during the late 1990 s and in the 2000s mostly because of more stringent discharge limits for nitrogen and also more complex wastewaters treated in constructed wetlands (CWs). The early hybrid CWs consisted of several stages of vertical flow (VF) followed by several stages of horizontal flow (HF) beds. During the 1990 s, HF-VF and VF-HF hybrid systems were introduced. However, to achieve higher removal of total nitrogen or to treat more complex industrial and agricultural wastewaters other types of hybrid constructed wetlands including free water surface (FWS) CWs and multistage CWs have recently been used as well. The survey of 60 hybrid constructed wetlands from 24 countries reported after 2003 revealed that hybrid constructed wetlands are primarily used on Europe and in Asia while in other continents their use is limited. The most commonly used hybrid system is a VF-HF constructed wetland which has been used for treatment of both sewage and industrial wastewaters. On the other hand, the use of a HF-VF system has been reported only for treatment of municipal sewage. Out of 60 surveyed hybrid systems, 38 have been designed to treat municipal sewage while 22 hybrid systems were designed to treat various industrial and agricultural wastewaters. The more detailed analysis revealed that VF-HF hybrid constructed wetlands are slightly more efficient in ammonia removal than hybrid systems with FWS CWs, HF-VF systems or multistage VF and HF hybrid CWs. All types of hybrid CWs are comparable with single VF CWs in terms of NH4-N removal rates. On the other hand, CWs with FWS units remove substantially more total nitrogen as compared to other types of hybrid constructed wetlands. However, all types of hybrid constructed wetlands are more efficient in total nitrogen removal than single HF or VF constructed wetlands.