Aquaculture 217 (2003) 207 221

www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online

Treatment of rainbow trout farm effluents in

constructed wetland with emergent plants and
subsurface horizontal water flow
Carsten Schulz *, Jorg Gelbrecht, Bernhard Rennert
Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Muggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Received 1 April 2001; received in revised form 6 March 2002; accepted 22 April 2002

Abstract
The objective of this research was to investigate treatment of aquaculture effluents of flowthrough systems in created wetlands. The constructed wetlands types used in this study were
subsurface root zone systems with emergent plants and horizontal effluent soil percolation. Three
1.40  1.00  0.70 m (L  W  H) root zone systems were filled with sands of 1 2 mm particle
size and planted with 20 rooted shoots of reed per square meter (Phragmites australis). Nutrient
removal of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) effluents flowing through the wetland was
determined for hydraulic loading rates of 1, 3 and 5 l/min corresponding to very short hydraulic
residence times (HRTs) of 7.5, 2.5 and 1.5 h, respectively. Inflowing nutrients were removed within
every continuously flooded wetland. Total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand
(COD) were reduced by 95.8 97.3% and 64.1 73.8%, respectively, and demonstrated no influence
of HRT. Total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) removal rates varied from 49.0% to 68.5%
and 20.6% to 41.8%, respectively, and were negatively correlated with HRTs. Effluent purification
was best at HRT of 7.5 h, but sufficient removal rates were achieved for shorter HRTs.
D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Constructed wetlands; Treatment of aquaculture effluents; Nutrient removal

1. Introduction
For the past 10 years, annual production of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in
Germany yielded about 25,000 t (FAO, 1998). In Germany, rainbow trout are cultured in
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-30-64181632; fax: +49-30-64181799.

E-mail address: c.schulz@igb-berlin.de (C. Schulz).

0044-8486/03/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 4 - 8 4 8 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 0 4 - 1

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C. Schulz et al. / Aquaculture 217 (2003) 207221

open or semiopen systems in ponds, tanks or raceways, with a flow through of water from
nearby rivers or brooks. Open aquaculture systems imply that effluents are discharged to
the environment with enhanced nutrient and solid concentrations. Such aquaculture
effluents may have serious consequences for the environment when discharged untreated
(Camargo, 1992; Rennert, 1994).
Nutrients in aquaculture effluents are distributed in particulate and soluble fractions
(Ackefors and Enell, 1994). In fresh manure, about 7 32% of total nitrogen (TN) and 30
84% of total phosphorus (TP) and up to 27% of total carbon are bound in the particulate
fraction and the remainder is dissolved in the effluents (Bergheim et al., 1993a,b).
Nevertheless, technologies used for aquaculture effluents are mainly based on the
mechanical separation of solids to clarify drained water. The most popular method of
mechanical particle separation is the treatment by static or rotating microscreens. The
treatment efficiency of microscreens has been tested in several studies (Bergheim et al.,
1993a,b; Bergheim and Forsberg, 1993; Hennessy, 1991; Lekang et al., 2000; Makinen et
al., 1988; Wedekind, 1996) and a wide range of nutrient removal could be found. By using
microscreens, reduction of solids achieved 50 74%, 49.3 63% of TP and 10 42.7% of
TN. Another mechanical treatment of flow-through system effluent is the sedimentation in
tanks or ponds, where the settleable solids with a greater density than water settled out and
separated of the suspension. Depending on inflowing nutrient load, Bergheim et al. (1998)
reported removal for solids in sedimentation tanks with same hydraulic residence time of
58 90%. Fladung (1993) obtained in sedimentation ponds with a hydraulic residence time
of 30 min a solid removal of 97% and phosphorus removal of 34%. The reduction of
dissolved nutrients like NH4+ (up to 90% of total excreted nitrogen), urea, soluble
phosphorus, or carbon compounds by mechanical treatment methods is very low.
Constructed wetlands represent a natural treatment system based on biological
symbiosis between macrophytes (Phragmites sp., Typha sp., etc.) and microorganisms
(bacteria, fungi, algae), and their interactions with the soil chemistry. In recent years,
created wetlands have been developed to successfully treat agricultural, municipal, or
industrial wastewaters. Depending on the choice of construction and function, macrophyte
treatment systems can be divided into:
1.
2.
3.

ponds with free-floating or submersed plants and no effluent; percolation through the
soil
root zone systems with emergent plants and completely effluent percolation through
the soil;
hydrobotanic systems as link between (1) ponds and (2) root zone systems.

Moreover, these treatment systems can be subclassified by the flow direction of effluents
(vertical or horizontal), the plant species or type of soil (Kehrer, 1997). Biotic and abiotic
purification mechanisms of constructed wetlands are based on the following processes
(Gumbricht, 1993; Hiley, 1995): (a) mechanical screening and sedimentation, (b) microbial
degradation, (c) biochemical nutrient removal of plant rhizomes, (d) adsorption through
ligand exchange, (e) precipitation and chemical fixation of reactive soil ingredients.
Removal efficiency is strongly influenced by the microorganisms inhabiting soil
particles and the rhizome of plants. Plants with aerenchym root systems aerate the soil

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209

and consequently aerobic microorganism (e. g. Nitrosomonas sp., Nitrobacter sp.) growth
is promoted. Bahlo and Wach (1993) found more intensive biological degradation of
ammonium to nitrate close to the rhizomes. Microbial elimination of nitrate nitrogen
(denitrification) occurs in the anaerobic parts of the soil, which can be found even in
effluents of constructed wetlands with oxygen levels of more than 4 mg/l (Platzer, 1998).
Particle bound phosphorus is mineralized by heterotrophic microorganism and at low
redox-potential sorpted to iron-, aluminium-, manganese hydroxides/-oxides, calcium or
clay minerals (Gumbricht, 1993). Removal processes of constructed wetlands show
increased efficiency by using smaller soil particle sizes.
Treatment of aquaculture effluents from cold-water flow-through systems using
constructed wetlands has not been investigated yet. Schulz and Rennert (2000) reported
that nutrient concentration in rainbow trout farms is in general 50-fold lower than
municipal effluents. It is hypothesized that by utilizing comparable nutrient loading, as
is common for municipal effluents, the HRT for constructed wetland treating aquaculture
effluents can be significantly decreased. To ensure soil permeability of root zone systems
loaded with high effluent volumes, the particle size of soil or the treatment area per cubic
meter effluent has to be increased to enhance percolation (Bahlo and Wach, 1993).
Schwartz and Boyd (1995) reported high treatment efficiencies (TKN: 45 61%, TP: 59
84%, BOD: 37 67%, TSS: 75 87%) for channel catfish effluents by using subsurfaceflow constructed wetlands. This nutrient reduction was performed with HRTs of 1 4 days.
However, such long HRTs for treating high effluent volumes of flow-through systems
would require very large areas for effluent treatment.
The aim of this preliminary investigation is to investigate use of an adapted root zone
system with emergent plants for treatment of rainbow trout farm effluents. Designs will
emphasize systems with rapid HRTs.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experimental design
Constructed wetlands used in this study were subsurface-flow root zone systems with
emergent plants and horizontal effluent soil percolation. The construction (Fig. 1) of the
three 1.40  1.00  0.70 m (L  W  H) root zone systems were finished in March 2000,
and were subsequently planted with 20 rooted shoots of reed (Phragmites australis) per
square meter. Wetland cells were filled with sands of 1 2 mm particle size and a porosity
of 0.45. To ensure a horizontal flow through the bed, the first 10 cm of the inlet side were
packed with coarse-grained gravel of 16 32 mm (porosity of 0.65). The bottom of the
outlet side was also filled with a layer of the coarse-grained gravel (16 32 mm) to
facilitate drainage. A standpipe was set to maintain a water level of 65 cm in the root zone
system.
The study was divided in two phases by feeding pelleted diets in the first 3 months and
using extruded diets in the following 3 months. Fish were fed over the whole time with 1%
bodyweight per day. The investigation was conducted with a model system containing a
tank with a volume of about 2 m3 (2.80  0.9  0.8; L  W  H) and a freshwater supply

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C. Schulz et al. / Aquaculture 217 (2003) 207221

Fig. 1. Design of used root zone constructed wetlands with horizontal flow and emergent plants; larger substrate
at inlet and outlet to facilitate influent distribution and effluent drainage.

of 9 l/min. The aeration of the water based on compressed air. Fish with a initial weight of
350 g each were weighed monthly and stock in excess of 30 kg was removed.
2.2. Sampling and analysis
The constructed wetlands were loaded with 1 l/min (HRT 1 = 7.5 h), 3 l/min (HRT
2 = 2.5 h), 5 l/min (HRT 3 = 1.5 h) of rainbow trout effluent. After a preexperimental phase
of 2 months for initial establishment of reed and natural microbial consortia, water samples
were collected monthly. Due to diurnal fluctuating nutrient values of rainbow trout
effluents (Rennert, 1994), the samples were taken over 24 h by an interval of 2 h. Data
(n = 12) from the 24-h sampling were used to determine mean values for each month. The
nutrient characteristics as total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), ammonia
nitrogen (NH4+ N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 N), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive
phosphorus (SRP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured at the inlet and
outlet of the created wetlands to evaluate treatment efficiency for each of the three HRTs.
Determination of nutrient values was carried out by the methods described in DIN. For
TSS, DIN 38409 was utilized by using fibre glass filter (WHATHAM GF/F) with a pore
size of 0.45 Am. Nitrogen fractions NH4+ N (DIN EN ISO 11732) and NO3 N (DIN EN
ISO 13395) were analysed photometrically with a flow solution system (PERSTORP) and
SRP (DIN EN ISO 1189) and TP (DIN EN ISO 1189) with standard photometer (CARY
1E). The chemoluminescence method for detecting TN (DIN ENV 12260) was performed

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211

with the TN-Analyzer (ABIMED). COD (DIN 38409) was detected with Dr. Lange test
kits and the LP 2W photometer (Dr. Lange).
2.3. Statistics
The principal influence of effluent treatment by the wetlands and their hydraulic load
(n = 3 for each diet) was tested by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Differences of
means were evaluated for significance by the range tests of Tukey HSD ( p V 0.05) for
homogeneous variances (Levene test) and by the range tests of Dunnett T3 ( p V 0.05) for
inhomogeneous variances, respectively. Calculations were performed with the SPSS
software package (SPSS, 1999).

3. Results
3.1. Phase 1: diet 1
Mean values of influent and effluent water quality and the removal performance of
constructed wetlands are summarized in Table 1. Within diet 1, there were no significant
differences in removal of TSS (96.6 97.1%) and COD (71.4 73.8%) as a function of
HRT. SRP averaged 124 Ag/l in the influent and was approximately 1/3 of influent TP (347
Ag/l). Effluent phosphorous concentrations leaving constructed wetlands increased with
higher hydraulic loads, but no significant differences between the constructed wetlands
were found. Nitrogen data, especially NO3 N, showed dependencies on the hydraulic
load of designed wetlands. Influent TN and ammonia averaged 2.4 and 0.6 mg/l and was
reduced to 1.43 1.77 and 0.14 0.17 mg/l (CW 1 CW 3), respectively. However,
removal of TN and ammonia in the constructed wetlands did not differ significantly.
Influent nitrate nitrogen (0.70 mg/l) was increased in the wetlands and CW 2 (1.23 mg/l)
and CW 3 (1.37 mg/l) released significantly higher nitrate nitrogen concentrations as CW
1 (1.02 mg/l). The nutrient loadings of constructed wetlands increased with rising
hydraulic loading. Significant differences in areal removal for each parameter (except of
SRP) were observed as a function of HRT.
3.2. Phase 2: diet 2
Feeding rainbow trout with the extruded diet 2 yielded in comparison to the first
feeding period mainly in reduced excretion of TSS, TN and COD. Influent TSS (8.74 mg/
l) and COD (29.53 mg/l) concentrations were observed to be removed to similar values
between the constructed wetlands (TSS: 0.34 0.36 mg/l; COD: 10.32 10.51 mg/l).
According to the increased amount of dietary TP content (Table 2), inflowing phosphorus
concentrations of 374 Ag/l TP and 145 Ag/l SRP were on a higher level as feeding diet 1.
In the outlet of CW 1, significant lowered levels of TP and SRP were detected as in the
outlet of root zone systems 2 and 3. The high digestibility and minor dietary level of
proteins in diet 2 yielded in a decreased TN content in rainbow trout effluents of 1.98 mg/l
as feeding diet 1. According to phase 1, the removal of TN was found to be significantly

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Table 1
Nutritional composition of inlet and outlets of constructed wetlands (CW) and their removal, areal loading and
areal removal using diet 1 and diet 2
Diet 1
Inlet

concentration 14.15a
(mg/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)
COD
concentration 41.01a
(mg/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)
TP
concentration 347a
(Ag/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)
SRP
concentration 124a
(Ag/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)
TN
concentration
2.40a
(mg/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)
NH4+ N concentration
0.61a
(mg/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)

TSS

Diet 2
Outlet

Outlet

Outlet

CW 1

CW 2

HRT
7.5 h

HRT
2.5 h

0.48b

0.38b

Outlet

Outlet

Outlet

CW 3

CW 1

CW 2

CW 3

HRT
1.5 h

HRT
7.5 h

HRT
2.5 h

HRT
1.5 h

0.41b

Inlet

8.74a

0.36b

0.34b

0.34b

96.6a
14.6

97.3a
43.7

97.1a
72.8

95.8a
9.0

96.1a
27.0

96.0a
45.0

14.1a

42.5b

70.7c

8.6a

25.9b

43.2c

11.72b

10.84b

10.73b

10.32b

10.51b

10.35b

29.53a

71.4a
42.2

73.5a
126.5

73.8a
210.9

64.7a
30.4

64.1a
91.1

64.8a
151.9

30.1a

93.1b

155.7c

19.8a

58.7b

98.7c

111b
67.5a
0.36
0.24a
106a
13.4a
0.13

127b
63.4a
1.07
0.68b
117a

128b
62.9a
1.79

117a
6.1a
0.64

0.02a

0.02a

0.04a

1.43b

1.66b

1.77b

31.0a
7.40
2.29b

3.23c

0.17b

0.15b

0.14b

72.5a
0.62
0.45a

75.5a
1.87
1.40b

0.26a
145a

78.1a
3.12
2.42c

104a
27.1a
0.15

1.98a

26.2a
12.33

1.00a

117b
68.5a
0.38

1.13c

6.2a
0.38

40.4a
2.47

374a

49.0a
1.15
0.57b
163a
13.7b
0.45

177c
52.3a
1.92
1.01b
148a
4.8b
0.75

0.04a

0.06a

0.02a

1.15b

1.54c

1.58c

41.8a
2.04

0.58a

190c

22.3b
6.12

20.6b
10.21

0.86a

1.36b

2.11b

0.05b

0.06b

0.06b

91.4a
0.60
0.55a

89.7a
1.80
1.60b

89.7a
3.00
2.68c

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213

Table 1 (continued )
Diet 1
Inlet

NO3 N concentration 0.70a

(mg/l)
removal (%)
areal loading
(g/m2 day)
areal removal
(g/m2 day)

Diet 2
Outlet

Outlet

Outlet

CW 1

CW 2

HRT
7.5 h

HRT
2.5 h

1.02a
46.3a
0.72
0.33a

1.23b
76.5b
2.15
1.64b

Inlet

Outlet

Outlet

Outlet

CW 3

CW 1

CW 2

CW 3

HRT
1.5 h

HRT
7.5 h

HRT
2.5 h

HRT
1.5 h

1.37b 0.66a
97.8b
3.59
3.45c

0.87a
30.8a
0.69
0.21a

1.26b
88.6b
2.06
1.82b

1.25b
87.7b
3.43
3.02b

Values given are means. Within data for each diet, values with the same superscript letter do not differ
significantly.
TSS = total suspended solids; COD = chemical oxygen demand; TP = total phosphorus; SRP = soluble reactive
phosphorus; TN = total nitrogen; NH4+ N = ammonia nitrogen; NO3 N = nitrate nitrogen.

higher in CW 1 (1.15 mg/l) as in CW 2 (1.54 mg/l) and CW 3 (1.58 mg/l). In addition to

an almost completely nitrification of inflowing NH4+ N in each constructed wetland, the
amount of NO3 N increased significantly with higher hydraulic loads. Thus, in CW 1,
inflowing NH4+ N (0.58 mg/l) and NO3 N (0.66 mg/l) were reduced with highest rates
to volatile nitrogen, i.e. lowest NO3 N levels (0,87 mg/l) were observed. According to
the first feeding phase, nutrient load of each parameter increased with rising hydraulic
load. Compared with the first feeding phase, load of TSS, COD and TN decreased in the
second feeding phase, whereas load of TP increased. The areal removal for TSS, COD,
TP, TN and NH4+ N increased significantly with decreasing HRT. NO3 N areal
removal enhanced with decreasing HRT, too, but did not differ between CW 2 and
CW 3 significantly.
3.3. Temporal course of removal
The temporal development of removal rates and loading in the constructed wetlands is
shown in Figs. 2 5. The reduction of TSS (Fig. 2) was in each wetland constantly high

Table 2
Mean nutritional composition of pelleted diet 1 and extruded diet 2

Dry matter (%)

Protein (%d.m.)
Lipid (%d.m.)
NFE (%d.m.)
Ash (%d.m.)
P (%d.m.)
FCR

Diet 1

Diet 2

92.60
51.02
15.26
29.60
7.25
1.00
1.36

95.90
45.66
23.92
20.48
9.94
1.23
1.03

(%d.m.) = percentage of dry matter; FCR = feed conversion ratio.

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Fig. 2. Temporal course of removal rates (closed symbols) and loadings (open symbols) of TSS at HRT of 7.5 h
(CW 1, o), 2.5 h (CW 2, D) and 1.5 h (CW 3, 5); feeding diet 1 from May 2000 to July 2000 and diet 2 from
August 2000 to October 2000.

Fig. 3. Temporal course of removal rates (closed symbols) and loadings (open symbols) of COD at HRT of 7.5 h
(CW 1, o), 2.5 h (CW 2, D) and 1.5 h (CW 3, 5); feeding diet 1 from May 2000 to July 2000 and diet 2 from
August 2000 to October 2000.

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215

Fig. 4. Temporal course of removal rates (closed symbols) and loadings (open symbols) of TP at HRT of 7.5 h
(CW 1, o), 2.5 h (CW 2, D) and 1.5 h (CW 3, 5); feeding diet 1 from May 2000 to July 2000 and diet 2 from
August 2000 to October 2000.

Fig. 5. Temporal course of removal rates (closed symbols) and loadings (open symbols) of TN at HRT of 7.5 h
(CW 1, o), 2.5 h (CW 2, D) and 1.5 h (CW 3, 5); feeding diet 1 from May 2000 to July 2000 and diet 2 from
August 2000 to October 2000.

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with levels of about 97%, whereas the TSS loading decreased during phase 2 by feeding
diet 2. It was found that after initial effluent load to the constructed wetlands, removal rates
of COD, TN and TP showed increasing levels. Therefore, highest COD elimination (Fig.
3) in each constructed wetland was observed in June. The exchange of pelleted diet 1 with
extruded diet 2 resulted in a decrease of COD loading and lowest COD removal rates were
observed in August. The temporal course of TN elimination (Fig. 5) developed equivalently, but on individual levels in each wetland. Therefore, TN removal increased in the
first month of observation and decreased with the beginning of the second feeding phase in
August. In the following 2 months, each treatment system adapted to the lower nutrient
load and TN removal was increased. In contrast to TSS, COD and TN, areal loading of TP
(Fig. 4) increased in phase 2 by feeding diet 2. Nevertheless, TP removal decreased in
August, especially in CW 2 and CW 3. In September and October, TP reduction of each
constructed wetland developed towards levels of the first feeding phase.

4. Discussion
Investigations on nutritional composition of untreated aquaculture effluents resulted in
wide ranges for TSS 5 50 mg/l, for TP 0.05 0.50 mg/l, for SRP 0.06 0.15 mg/l, for TN
0.2 3.3 mg/l, for NH4+ N 0.5 1.1 mg/l and for NO3 N 0.7 2.2 mg/l (Bergheim et al.,
1993a; Kelly et al., 1994; Dumas et al., 1998; Ackefors and Enell, 1994). It could be
assumed that the nutritional composition of aquaculture effluents depends on various
parameters concerning hydraulic management, oxygen management and feeding management with varying FCR (Summerfelt et al., 1995; Cripps and Bergheim, 2000). In this
study, results of nutritional load of rainbow trout effluents indicated that the experimental
design was able to produce characteristic waste matter for cold-water fish farm effluents.
Presented TSS amounts of 14.15 mg/l (pelleted diet 1) and 8.74 mg/l (extruded diet 2)
in the wastewater lied between values of above mentioned studies. The nutrient concentrations in the outlet of constructed wetlands indicated that sludge removal and stabilization occurred within every wetland. Especially for TSS, removal rates of about 97% in
every wetland showed no influence of hydraulic and areal loadings. According to previous
studies (Bahlo and Wach, 1993; Sansanayuth et al., 1996; Schwartz and Boyd, 1995), a
constant mechanical screening of used gravel could be observed; varying hydraulic
residence times of effluents did not differ in diminishing TSS. Compared with varying
removal rates of sedimentation tanks of 58 97% or microscreens of 50 74% (Bergheim
and Forsberg, 1993; Bergheim et al., 1993a,b, 1998, Fladung, 1993; Hennessy, 1991;
Lekang et al., 2000; Makinen et al., 1988; Wedekind, 1996; Cripps and Bergheim, 2000),
the efficiency of these root zone systems for treatment of aquaculture effluents was on a
higher and more constant level. Nevertheless, high TSS loadings (8.6 43.2 g/m2 day)
could cause clogging of soil matrix that hydraulic conductivity and removal performance
of constructed wetlands will decrease (Kadlec and Knight, 1996). To avoid soil clogging
in constructed wetlands for treatment of municipal sewage, Muller (2000) advised a
maximum of 15 g TSS/m2 day. Although clogging of soil matrix was not observed in this
study, removal performance of root zone systems has to be validated by long-term
investigations. The amount of organic matter expressed as the content of a chemical

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217

oxidant required for oxidation of organic matter (COD) of 41.01 mg/l (diet 1) and 29.53
mg/l (diet 2) in the inlet of the constructed wetlands corresponded with values of COD 5
100 mg/l in previous studies (Dumas et al., 1998). According to Kickuth (1981), treatment
efficiency for COD of 71.4 73.8% (diet 1) and 64.1 64.8% (diet 2) showed no
significant differences between the different loads of constructed wetlands and time of
year. Analogous to TSS, this constant removal of COD within each wetland demonstrated
that COD amount was strongly related to TSS level. High and constant COD removal
followed the TSS reduction capacity of root zone system. The lower treatment efficiency
observed in the second phase of feeding diet 2 showed that lower influent concentration of
COD caused minor removal rates (about 8%) of the constructed wetland. Corresponding to increased removal rates of microsieves by using higher nutrient concentration in
salmonid effluents (Ackefors and Enell, 1994), presented treatment efficiency of root zone
system varied with inflowing waste concentration. In agreement with previous studies of
Burgoon et al. (1991) or Tanner et al. (1995), areal removal of organic matter rose with
increasing areal loadings. Relationship between mass load and BOD removal of municipal
sewage in subsurface horizontal flow systems reported from Schierup and Brix (1990),
Knight et al. (1993) or Schwartz and Boyd (1995) was not supported by presented study
(carried out with COD).
After filtration and sedimentation of particle-bound (as well as soluble) organic matter,
a number of processes occurred in root zone systems, including microbial decomposition
of organic matter (Gumbricht, 1993). Kadlec and Knight (1996) identified microbial
respiration of carbon components to CO2 in the aerobic zones of constructed wetlands to
be a major process of the carbon cycle. In anaerobic zones, fermentation, methanogenesis,
sulphate reduction, nitrate and iron reduction occurred under evaporation of CO2 or CH4,
respectively. Depending on physical and chemical conditions, it has been demonstrated
that every presented pathway occur for utilization of organic carbon compounds.
Bergheim et al. (1993a) reported that 30 84% of TP content of aquaculture effluents
are bound in particles. According to previous studies, inflowing TP values of 347 Ag/l (diet
1) and 373 Ag/l (diet 2) with contents of 35 38% soluble reactive phosphorus indicated a
maximum of 65% particle bound phosphorus. Compared with TP elimination of microsieves of 49.3 63.0% (Bergheim et al., 1993a,b; Bergheim and Forsberg, 1993; Hennessy,
1991; Lekang et al., 2000; Makinen et al., 1988; Wedekind, 1996) or settling basins of
34% (Cripps and Bergheim, 2000; Fladung, 1993) in each root zone system, TP levels
decreased on constant high levels of 49.0 68.5%. It can be assumed that hydraulic load
effect the phosphorus retention. The reduction mechanisms for phosphorus in root zone
systems described as sorption and precipitation reactions through ligand exchange of
inorganic phosphate with aluminium-, iron-, manganese hydroxides/-oxides, calcium and
clay minerals (Bahlo and Wach, 1993). The removal of phosphorus generally involves
rapid adsorption processes and slower chemical reactions leading to the formation of a
solid phosphate phase. Bergheiser et al. (1980) assumed that different processes are
difficult to distinguish and commonly labelled as sorption. Sorption to iron and aluminium
compounds of the soil seems to be the most important process under neutral or slightly
acid conditions (Richardson, 1985). Protonation of Al and Fe surfaces increases with
decreasing pH that phosphate-binding capacity declined (Bergheiser et al., 1980). Generally, a lowering of the redox potential enhances the soil solution phosphorus content due

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C. Schulz et al. / Aquaculture 217 (2003) 207221

to the reduction of Fe3 + to Fe2 + resulting in a release of iron-bound phosphorus (e.g.

Gumbricht, 1993). Reduced TP removal observed after the first feeding of diet 2 in August
implied that root zone systems react sensitively to changing nutrient values (according to
COD). High values of outflowing SRP (not shown) analysed in August indicated an
ongoing decomposition of particle bounded to soluble phosphorus, but sorption declined.
Apart from oxygen, nitrate was found to increase the redox potential and hinder
phosphorus release from escaping the sediments (Jensen and Andersen, 1992). Lower
nitrogen amounts, as it was found in second feeding phase, may cause declining redox
potential and release of SRP. Decreasing outflowing SRP levels in September and October
with increasing TP retention showed an adaptation of TP removal processes to the
different nutrient load. In accordance with presented results, investigations of Burgoon et
al. (1991) and Tanner et al. (1995) observed increasing areal TP removal with increasing
TP loadings. Furthermore, Burgoon et al. (1991) and Tanner et al. (1995) found decreased
percentage TP removals with rising loadings, influenced by increasing oxygen demand for
decomposition at higher nutrient loadings.
The total nitrogen content of inflowing rainbow trout effluents was, according to
Bergheim et al. (1993a), mainly characterized by soluble inorganic NH4+ N and NO3
N contents. Removal of nitrogen in constructed wetlands declined proportionally with
growing hydraulic loads; CW 1 showed highest rates of about 41% (diet 1 and diet 2) and
CW 3 lowest with 26.2% (diet 1) and 20.6% (diet 2). These removal rates were
comparable with the TN elimination of 5 49% in common treatment technologies of
aquaculture effluents (microscreens or settling tanks). Organic-bound nitrogen (proteins,
amino acids and urea) was ammonified by microbial processes, which can be either
aerobic or anaerobic (Hiley, 1995). Nitrification or oxidation of ammonia (ammonified
and excreted ammonia) to nitrate as an oxygen-demanding process occurred in two steps
involving microbial species, e.g. Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter (Koottatep and Polprasert, 1997). The importance of nitrification reported primarily in production of nitrate,
which then participate in denitrification reactions, the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen
gas. Outflowing NH4+ N amounts of 0.14 0.17 mg/l (diet 1) and 0.05 0.06 mg/l (diet
2) showed high microbial activities concerning ammonification and nitrification within
each constructed wetland. Different removal rates of TN with growing hydraulic loads
showed that denitrification activity, as major nitrogen retention process, varied within the
constructed wetlands. Gumbricht (1993) assumed that denitrification is realized if oxygen
is lacking. Facultative anaerobic bacteria use NO3 in place of free O2 as the terminal
exogenous H + acceptor in respiration. Organic matter furnishes energy for growth of
denitrifying bacteria and serves as an H + donor in the denitrification process. Even if
different denitrifiers have various demands, several reports indicated that denitrification
starts with 0.25 mg O2/l as threshold value, with increasing activity as oxygen content
declines (Chan and Cambell, 1980; Ronner and Sorensson, 1985; Terai et al., 1987).
Increasing hydraulic loads supported the development of aerobic conditions in the
constructed wetlands (Table 3) and hindered denitrification processes. Bahlo and Wach
(1993) revealed that anaerobic conditions for denitrification could be found in constructed wetlands even with outflowing oxygen contents of 4 mg/l. Nevertheless, low
hydraulic loads with lower outflowing oxygen contents promoted denitrification and
highest NO3 N elimination was observed in CW 1. Although oxygen demand for

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219

Table 3
Physicochemical water parameter of inlet and outlet of the constructed wetlands (CW)

Oxygen (mg/l)
pH
Conductivity (As/cm)
Temperature (jC)

Inlet

Outlet CW 1

Outlet CW 2

Outlet CW 3

HRT 7.5 h

HRT 2.5 h

HRT 1.5 h

6.23 F 0.44
7.75 F 0.17
677 F 25
14.6 F 0.6

0.67 F 0.25
7.41 F 0.22
681 F 24
15.2 F 1.2

1.03 F 0.31
7.46 F 0.18
681 F 25
14.8 F 0.9

1.04 F 0.42
7.47 F 0.17
683 F 26
14.8 F 0.9

Values given are mean F standard deviation.

microbial decomposition increased with growing nutrient loadings in CW 2 and CW 3,

simultaneous rising hydraulic load decreased development of anaerobic conditions in the
root zone. Nevertheless, according to Burgoon et al. (1991), areal removal of TN increased with rising loadings.
The emergent plants, used in constructed wetlands, play a crucial role because their
rhizomes create the necessary environment for removal processes. The rhizomes provide
surfaces for bacterial growth as well as for filtration of solids. The aerenchymatous oxygen
supply of rhizomes oxidises the soil body; therefore, decomposition of organic material,
further aerobic microbial degradation of nutrients and phosphate-binding capacity in the
soil is promoted. Nutrient removal by plant assimilation and uptake is reported being of
minor importance and lying between 10% and 30% of total nitrogen and total phosphorus
retention (Koottatep and Polprasert, 1997; Burgoon et al., 1991).

5. Conclusion
This study showed that subsurface-flow created wetlands can be used for effluent
treatment of aquaculture flow-through systems. Inflowing nutrients were removed within
every continuously flooded wetland. Reduction of TSS and COD of 95.8 97.3% and
64.1 73.8%, respectively, showed no influence of hydraulic load. Removal rates of TN
and TP varied with 20.6 41.8% and 49.0 68.5%, respectively, proportionally with
decreasing residence times. However, high areal nutrient loading of subsurface-flow
systems (e.g. 9.0 72.8 g TSS/m2 day, 30.4 210.9 g COD/m2 day) could influence
long-term nutrient removal by clogging of soil matrix negatively. Obtained removal rates
demonstrated that created wetlands with high hydraulic loads reduced inflowing nutrients
by amounts comparable to, or exceeding that achieved by mechanical treatments such as
microscreens or sedimentation tanks. Thus, created wetlands are a viable alternative
treatment for aquaculture effluents.

Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and
Agriculture, Bonn, Germany.

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