Optimizing vertical up-flow engineered wetland systems for textile wastewater treatment: effects of flow rate, plant type, and column height

This study explores the effectiveness of vertical up-flow engineered wetland systems in treating textile wastewater, particularly in removing chemical oxygen demand and color. The research investigated the influence of column height, contact time, plant species, and flow modes on treatment efficacy. The results revealed that intermittent flow mode was more effective, removing 70–80% of chemical oxygen demand and 80–85% of color, compared to 40–45% for chemical oxygen demand and 70–75% for color in continuous flow systems. Typha Latifolia proved to be the most effective plant species in the intermittent flow system, achieving up to 85% chemical oxygen demand removal and 71% color removal. In contrast, in continuous flow systems, the removal rates were 43% for chemical oxygen demand and 62% for color. The study employed first-order kinetic models, which showed that intermittent flow systems had higher removal rates. Typha Latifolia exhibited the highest removal rate of 0.42 d⁻¹ for chemical oxygen demand and 0.38 d⁻¹ for color. Furthermore, increasing the column height up to 75 cm enhanced treatment efficiency. These findings have significant practical implications, providing valuable insights for developing more effective and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment solutions for the textile industry.