Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

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Journal of Hydrology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhydrol

Ecological ditch system for nutrient removal of rural domestic sewage in the T
hilly area of the central Sichuan Basin, China
⁎
Tao Wang, Bo Zhu , Minghua Zhou
Key Lab of Mountain Surface Process and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Domestic sewage is a key source of surface water pollution in rural areas of developing countries, especially in
Ecological ditch China, where a large amount of highly concentrated nutrients is directly discharged into the receiving waters.
Domestic sewage Therefore, in this study, a set of ecological ditch systems was designed to remove nutrients from rural domestic
Wastewater treatment sewage in the hilly area of the central Sichuan Basin, China. The results show that the total nitrogen (TN)
Nitrogen
removal efficiencies range from 14.87% to 84.24%, with an average of 47.97%, and the total phosphorus (TP)
Phosphorus
removal efficiencies range from 13.93% to 86.22% with an average of 49.79%. The highest daily TN and TP
removal rates are 13.06 and 1.30 g m−2 d−1, respectively, and the average removal rates are 3.19 g m−2 d−1 for
TN and 0.28 g m−2 d−1 for TP. Our results indicate that the ecological ditch system to treat rural domestic
sewage with high nutrient concentrations can be used in the study area or areas with similar topography.
Furthermore, we found that the nutrient removal efficiencies exhibit considerable seasonal variations and are
sensitive to the hydraulic flow rates. The nutrient removal capacity of the ecological ditch system is therefore
somewhat limited. Based on our findings, the use of winter-hardy wetland plants and increase of the size of the
filter unit are recommended to make the ecological ditch system more efficient and maintain high nutrient
removal rates year-round. Furthermore, we suggest that regular mowing of plants and the removal of accu-
mulated sediment are necessary to manage the ecological ditch system.

1. Introduction (CWs), retention ponds, and subsurface filtration technologies (Elliott

Eutrophication of rivers or lakes due to excess nitrogen and phos-
phorus has become a major environmental concern in recent years
(Wang et al., 2016). Domestic sewage is considered to be a major
pollution source in rural areas of developing countries (Zhang et al.
2010; Zhang et al., 2015; Tran et al., 2015; Lutterbeck et al. 2017). In
such areas with a less developed infrastructure for wastewater treat-
ment in which wastewater is not treated, domestic sewage containing
high levels of substances, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens,
is often directly discharged from open drainage ditches to nearby water
bodies (Zou et al., 2012; Moeder et al., 2017). This has caused the
eutrophication of the surrounding surface water in developing coun-
tries, especially in China (Wang et al., 2017; Kumwimba et al., 2018).
Therefore, the identification of suitable domestic sewage treatment
approaches in these rural areas, especially nitrogen and phosphorus
removal, has become an urgent issue (Qiu, 2011; Wang et al., 2016;
Song et al., 2018).
Many ecological engineering approaches have been developed to
treat rural domestic sewage worldwide, such as constructed wetlands
et al., 2007; Tixier et al., 2011; Anderson et al., 2015). Many studies
have confirmed that pollutants in domestic sewage, such as chemical
oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and pa-
thogens, could be effectively removed by CWs (Vymazal, 2007; Tang
et al., 2013; Kadlec et al., 2009). Vymazal (2007) reviewed the nutrient
removal mechanisms of various types of CWs. Similarly, retention
ponds and subsurface filtration technology have also been confirmed to
be effective methods to remove nutrients in rural areas (Winston et al.,
2013; Anderson et al., 2015). However, the effectiveness of nutrient
removal via these approaches is highly variable and depends on a range
of factors, such as the temperature, discharge, wetland plants, and
pollutants concentrations (Vymazal, 2007; Headley and Tanner, 2012;
Winston et al., 2013; Lucke et al., 2015). In addition, the pollutants
accumulated in sediments, filter materials, and decaying wetland plants
could be released and re-enter receiving waters, which may lead to the
release of the retained nutrients, thus, becoming a source of nutrients of
the water column (Semadeni-Davies, 2006; Hill et al., 2012; Jia et al.,
2015; Kumwimba et al., 2018). Furthermore, although all these ap-
proaches have significant advantages over typical wastewater

⁎
Corresponding author. at: #.9, Block 4, Renminnanlu Road, Chengdu, China.
E-mail address: bzhu@imde.ac.cn (B. Zhu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.01.034
Received 30 September 2018; Received in revised form 9 January 2019; Accepted 12 January 2019
Available online 31 January 2019
0022-1694/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
T. Wang et al.
Fig. 1. Location of the study site in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China.
treatment plants in terms of the nutrient removal and economic costs,
the land requirements for these approaches may be the most limiting
factor to their application, especially in hilly areas (Wu et al. 2015).
Therefore, it is challenge that how to reduce the land requirement for
domestic sewage treatment via ecological engineering approaches in
rural areas, especially in hilly areas of developing countries.
Vegetated ditches have become an increasingly popular approach to
reducing the transport of nutrients derived from agricultural areas;
their popularity can be attributed to the smaller land requirements,
high nutrient removal rate, and low construction and maintenance
operation costs (Liu et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2015). Many studies have
demonstrated that vegetated ditches can effectively remove nutrients
leached from agricultural soils caused by fertilizer application
(Matthew et al., 2006; Kröger et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2010; Moore
et al., 2011; Tang et al., 2013; Vymazal et al., 2018). Kumwimba et al.
(2018) reviewed the design, mechanism, management strategies, and
future directions of the removal of non-point source pollutants from
agricultural runoff by vegetated drainage ditches. The treatment mea-
sures for the removal of nitrogen from agricultural runoff in vegetated
ditches depend on the self-purifying mechanisms of natural water
bodies, such as aeration, ammonia oxidation, plant uptake, sedi-
mentation, adsorption, volatilization, nitrification, and denitrification
(Tang et al., 2013; Vymazal et al., 2018). The treatment measures for
the removal of phosphorus from agricultural runoff in vegetated ditches
depend on the plant uptake, sedimentation, and adsorption (Vymazal
et al., 2018). Moreover, maintenance practices are essential to sustain
stable nutrient removal rates of vegetation ditches. Faust et al. (2018)
reviewed the effects of different agricultural ditch management prac-
tices on nutrients and sediment losses downstream. In recent years,
vegetated ditches have also been successfully used to treat rural do-
mestic sewage wastewaters (Kumwimba et al., 2017a,b; Bundschuh
et al., 2016). However, there are still shortcomings when fully applying
them to treat rural domestic sewage. On one hand, most plants in ve-
getated ditches do not easily survive for a long time under high COD
and very low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (Saggaï et al.,
840
Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849
2017). On the other hand, the nutrient removal capacity of vegetated
ditches is limited due to high nutrient concentrations, complex waste-
water compositions, and unstable flow rates (Kumwimba et al. 2018).
Hydrologic variables should be considered as critical parameters for the
management and to achieve a sustainable treatment performance
(Kumwimba et al., 2018). Several studies have also demonstrated that
the removal efficiencies of nutrients are related to the hydrologic
variables (Li et al., 2016; Soana et al., 2017; Castaldelli et al., 2018).
However, it is very difficult to improve the nutrient removal capacity
via vegetated ditches under highly variable hydraulic loading rates
(HLR). Therefore, reducing the toxicity of the wastewater for plants and
increasing the nutrient removal capacity of vegetated ditches under
highly variable HLR are becoming major future challenges for the
sustainable, long-term operation of vegetated ditches that are used to
treat rural domestic sewage.
In this study, we designed and constructed an ecological ditch
system consisting of a retention pond, aeration, filter basin, and vege-
tated ditches to treat domestic sewage in a small township in the hilly
area of the central Sichuan Basin, China. The objectives of this study
were to (i) evaluate the performance of the ecological ditch system in
treating domestic sewage from a rural township, and (ii) analyze the
nutrient removal capacity of the ecological ditch system under different
environmental conditions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
This study was conducted in a rural township in the Sichuan
Province, China (31°16′ N, 105°27′ E). The study site is located on top
of a hill at an altitude ranging from 500 to 600 m in the central Sichuan
Basin, Southwest China (Fig. 1). The region experiences a moderate
subtropical monsoon climate with an annual mean temperature of
17.3 °C and annual mean precipitation of 826 mm. Most precipitation
occurs from April to October (Zhu et al., 2009).
T. Wang et al. Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

This township is a typical township in the region, with an area of

1.26 ha and a stable population of approximately 500 inhabitants per
square kilometer. Approximately 500 migrants enter this township for
trading every two days. The township was constructed on both sides of
the main road that runs through it. The hillside itself has a slope of 15°,
and the township is divided into a residential area (0.77 ha), school
(0.11 ha), and road (0.38 ha) (Luo et al., 2012). Approximately
30–150 m3 d−1 of sewage is produced daily. Approximately
0.86–4.31 kg N d−1 and 0.05–0.23 kg P d−1 is produced daily. Two
covered concrete ditches, one on either side of the road, were con-
structed in this township, both of which are used for rainfall and sewage
drainage. Prior to this study, this wastewater merged into one of the
ditches, and the storm runoff and sewage had not been separated into
different systems. Additionally, there is no sewage treatment facility or
qualified slaughterhouse in this township. All combined untreated
sewage and runoff directly entered the drainage ditch, and subse-
quently flowed into receiving water, such as rivers.
Fig. 3. Rainfall during the study period.

2.2. Ecological ditch system design

length, width, and depth of 3.0, 2.0 m, and 1 m, respectively (Fig. 2).
The second part was created to serve as biofilter pond. It is filled with
Two ditches were designed and constructed adjacent to the do-
dry rice straw to increase the organic carbon concentration and has a
mestic sewage-collecting ditches. One is an ecological ditch system
length, width, and depth of 1.5, 1.5, and 1.0 m, respectively. The third
designed to improve the water quality of domestic sewage generated by
part is a concrete ditch in which Hydrocotyle chinensis (Dunn) Craib and
the township, and the other is designed as a flood drain to separate the
Myriophyllum elatinoides Gaudich were planted. There was some sedi-
flood water. Sandstone was used to prevent damage to the ecological
ment on the ditch bottom when Hydrocotyle chinensis (Dunn) Craib and
ditch system due to storm runoff. As a rule, domestic sewage was dis-
Myriophyllum elatinoides Gaudich was planted. The concrete ditch is
charged into the ecological ditch system, while the flood water was
20.0 m long and 1.5 m wide and has a water level of 30.0 cm and a
separated from sewage via a diversion dam and directed into the flood
water width of 1.5 m. A preprocessing pond was constructed before the
drain ditch.
falling water in the aeration unit. The size pond is 2.0, 2.0, and 1.0 m in
The ecological ditch system is 308.0 m in length and has a max-
length, width, and depth, respectively. A steep 70° slope with a height
imum bottom width of 1.5 m, minimum bottom width of 0.8 m, and
of 27.0 m and a vertical pebble bed on the top was used to aerate the
average depth of 0.6 m. It was designed to maximize the utilization of
falling water. Acorus tatarinowii was planted on the surface of the
natural processes and ecosystem functions of the drainage ditch. The
pebble bed to strengthen the aeration efficiency. Acorus tatarinowii has
ditch is divided into four successive units: a settlement unit (U1),
developed reticular roots. Reticular structure increases the exchange
aeration unit (U2), filtration unit (U3), and vegetated ditches unit (U4;
between water and air by increasing the surface area of water, thus
Fig. 2). First, the settlement unit (U1) consists of several parts along the
increasing the aeration efficiency. Next, we constructed a filter basin
ecological ditch system and has a total length of 110.0 m. One part was
that was 3.0, 3.0, and 1.5 m in length, width, and depth to collect the
created for sediment settlement and solid waste disposal and has a

Fig. 2. Water treatment processes and the design of the ecological ditch system.

841
T. Wang et al. Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

falling aerated water. The basin contains layers of filtration materials

including sand, gravel, and carclazyte (Fig. 2). Each layer is approxi-

Relative elevation
mately 10.0 cm thick. A layer of bricks with a thickness of 6.0 cm was
placed on top of the filter layers to prevent the system from clogging
due to suspended sediment (Fig. 2); a plastic mesh with an aperture of

(m)b

23.3

18.3
1.0 mm was placed under the bricks. Finally, we constructed 150.0 m

1.7

1.0

0
long vegetated ditches with widths ranging from ∼1.0 to 1.5 m. A
series of weirs was used as water control structure to maintain a water

Relative instance
level of 10.0 cm and water width of 1.0 m over the sediment; the weirs
were set apart at intervals of at least 30.0 m. Soil was used as substrate
in the vegetated ditches. Before and after the weirs, pebbles with a

(m)a
length of 1.0 m and a depth of 0.1 m were paved to weaken the soil

110
142

151

308
0
erosion. The purpose of these weirs was to delay the hydraulic retention

Slope (%)
time (HRT). The dominant wetland plants used were Thalia dealbata (T.
dealbata), Iris pseudacorus L. (I. pseudacorus L.), Canna indica (C. indica),

70

10
Phyllostachys heteroclada Oliver (P. heteroclada Oliver), Acorus tatarinowii

0
Characteristics of each unit and sample site of the ecological ditch (a: distance relative to the first sampling point; b: elevation relative to the fifth sampling point).
(A. tatarinowii), Rumex patientia (R. patientia), and Calla palustris L (C.
palustris L.). We planted T. dealbata, P. heteroclada Oliver, and I. pseu-

Above-ground dry biomass on

dacorus L. in the first wetland surface flow ditch; C. indica and C. pa-
lustris L. in the second; A. tatarinowii in the third; and T. dealbata and R.
patientia in the fourth (Fig. 2).

areal basis (kg/m2)

2.3. Ecological ditch system maintenance

The ditch maintenance began with the start of the operation of the

0.86

0.29

2.24
ecological ditch system. We removed suspended solid waste, such as
plastic bags and litter, from the settlement unit each day. The accu-

P. heteroclada Oliver, I. pseudacorus L., C. indica, C. palustris L., T.

mulated sediment was removed from the sediment tank and filtration
unit every three months. We renewed the materials in the filtration unit
in the spring of every year. Different wetland plants require different Hydrocotyle chinensis (Dunn) Craib, Myriophyllum elatinoides

maintenance methods. For example, we did not mow A. tatarinowii

because it is a perennial herb that grows throughout the year; its height
does not exceed 0.3 m. In contrast, we mowed C. indica, P. heteroclada
Oliver, and C. palustris L. every six months because of their large bio-
mass. The C. indica was first mowed in March of each year, while P.
dealbata, R. Patientia, A. tatarinowii
heteroclada Oliver and C. palustris L. were mowed first in May. After
mowing, we promptly removed the plant litter to prevent the occur-
rence of secondary pollutants. Furthermore, we promptly removed ex-
cess accumulated sediment from the vegetation ditches via dredging to
prevent shortening of the HRT. We also removed the accumulated se-
Acorus tatarinowii

diment from the settlement and filtration units via dredging to avoid
clogging. The sediments dredged from the ecological ditch system were
Vegetation

Gaudich

collected centrally and then exposed to the sun for three months to
remove pathogens. Finally, they were returned to the woodland soil.
Moreover, the control of plant diseases and pests is also very important.
Hydraulic retention time

2.4. Sampling and analysis

Five sampling points were set up along the course of the sewage
water flow across the ecological ditch system (Table 1). The first to fifth
sampling points were at the ecological ditch inlet (EDI), settlement
1.65

0.02

2.7

5.6
(h)

outlet (SEO), falling water outlet (FWO), filtration system outlet (FSO),
and wetland ditch outlet (WDO), respectively. Surface water samples
Unit Area

were collected from the six sampling points in the ecological ditch
system twice monthly from January to December 2016, using 5% sul-
(m2)

187
55

48

furic acid-washed plastic bottles (500 m/L) that were pre-rinsed with
9

deionized water. Three water sample replicates were simultaneously

Filtration system outlet

collected at each sampling point and stored in clean polyethylene

Ecological ditch inlet

Deposit outlet (DEO)

Wetland ditch outlet

Falling water outlet

bottles in an ice-packed chamber (4 °C) before analysis. We monitored

the water discharge at the inlet of the ecological ditch using a rectan-
Sampling sites

gular weir. The water levels in the weir were recorded using an auto-
water level probe (Odyssey, New Zealand) at 10-min intervals. Finally,
(WDO)
(FWO)

(FSO)
(EDI)

we calculated the hydraulic flow rates using the velocity and cross-
sectional area.
Table 1

Unit

We immediately filtered all water samples (0.45 µm) in the la-

U1

U2

U3

U4

boratory. Filtrates were automatically pumped into a AA3 Autoanalyzer

842
T. Wang et al.
(Bran + Luebbe, GmbH, Norderstedt, Germany) using flow injection
analysis technology to determine the nitrate (NO3-N), ammonium
(NH4-N), and dissolved phosphorus (PO4-P) concentrations (Zhu, et al.,
2009). We determined the TN and TP concentrations of the unfiltered
samples using ultraviolet (UV)–visible (VIS) spectrophotometry with
alkaline potassium persulfate digestion and Mo–Sb colorimetry with
potassium persulfate digestion, respectively (Xie and Wang, 1998). The
total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP)
concentrations of the filtered samples were determined using UV–VIS
spectrophotometry with alkaline potassium persulfate digestion on the
filtered sample and Mo–Sb colorimetry with potassium persulfate di-
gestion (Xie and Wang, 1998). We calculated the particulate nitrogen
(PN) concentrations using the TN and TDN difference and followed the
same method for particulate phosphorus (PP) concentrations. We
measured certain physicochemical parameters of the ditchwater in-situ,
such as the pH, temperature (T), and dissolved oxygen (DO) content,
using a portable multi-parameter water quality analyzer (Hach, Sen-
sion, United States of America). We determined the organic matter
(Chemical Oxygen Demand: COD) concentrations of the unfiltered
samples using UV–VIS spectrophotometric and potassium dichromate
digestion (Xie and Wang, 1998). The rainfall was measured using a rain
gauge (R13, Vaisala, Finland). Above-ground dry biomass of harvested
plant was measured via oven drying method at 70 °C (Xie and Wang,
1998).
2.5. Data analysis
We calculated the nutrient removal efficiency using two common
wetland system approaches (Kadlec and Knight, 1996; Liu et al., 2015).
First, we calculated the concentration removal efficiency (E , %) using
Eq. (1), where Cin and Cout are the inflow and outflow concentrations of
the nutrients (mg L−1) in ditchwater, respectively.
Cin − Cout
E= × 100
Cin (1)
We calculated the area-adjusted contaminant removal rate
(g m−2 d−1) using Eq. (2),
Q
RA = (Cin − Cout )
A (2)
2 −1
where A is the wetland area, m ; Cin is the inlet concentration, mg L ;
Cout is the outlet concentration, mg L−1; Q is the flow rate, m3; and RA is
the area-adjusted contaminant removal rate, g m−2 d−1.
Statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS 19 software
package (SPSS, Chicago). The variance and mean separations were
analyzed using the general linear model procedure of SPSS 19. The LSD
procedure and contrasts with a probability level of 0.05 were used to
identify significant differences between the treatment means. The
standard deviations were calculated using Excel 2010.
3. Results
3.1. Wastewater characterization of domestic sewage
The physicochemical characteristics of domestic sewage are pre-
sented in Table 2. The hydraulic load values range from 31 to
562 m3 d−1, with an average of 118 m3 d−1. The pH values range from
6.7 to 9.1, with an average of 7.6. The DO values range from 1.16 to
4.42 mg L−1, with an average of 2.88 mg L−1, and the COD values
range from 71.29 to 640.00 mg L−1, with an average of 151.54 mg L−1.
These results suggest that the physicochemical characteristics of do-
mestic sewage are highly variable.
Nitrogen and Phosphorous forms and concentrations of domestic
sewage samples were measured and listed in Table 2. The average
concentrations of TN, PN, NO3-N, and NH4-N in domestic sewage are
29.97, 5.87, 1.48, and 21.99 mg L−1, respectively. The main nitrogen
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Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849
species in domestic sewage is NH4-N. The average concentrations of TP,
PP, and PO4-P in the ecological ditch inflow are 1.93, 0.79, and
1.01 mg L−1, respectively (Table 2). The main phosphorous species in
domestic sewage is PO4-P.
3.2. Nutrient removal efficiency of the ecological ditch system
Table 3 shows the removal efficiencies and rates of nutrients of the
ecological ditch system. Over the monitoring period, we observed high
N and P removal efficiencies in the ecological ditch system. The average
COD, TN, PN, NH4-N, NO3-N, TP, PP, and PO4-P removal efficiencies
are 77.05%, 47.97%, 76.20%, 44.63%, 43.23%, 49.79%, 66.49%, and
58.85%, respectively. Furthermore, the average COD, TN, PN, NH4-N,
NO3-N, TP, PP, and PO4-P removal rates are 43.32, 3.19, 1.46, 2.50,
0.24, 0.28, 0.22, and 0.18 g m−2 d−1, respectively.
The average DO concentrations at different sampling points are
shown in Fig. 4. The average DO concentration at the system’s inlet is
2.88 mg/L, the average concentration at the outlet of the sediment unit
is 1.20 mg/L higher. After the falling water, the average DO con-
centration at the outlet of the aeration unit increases by 3.29 mg/L. This
suggests that the falling water could effectively increase the DO con-
centration before the domestic sewage wastewater enters the wetlands.
3.3. Nutrient removal in different pilot units
The average removal efficiencies and rates of domestic sewage of
each pilot unit are shown in Table 4. The COD removal efficiencies of
the four units range from 18.21% to 50.60%. The nitrogen removal
efficiencies range from 7.97% to 30.82% for TN and from 9.03% to
19.59% for NH4-N. The average phosphorus removal efficiencies for TP
and PO4-P range from 6.13% to 33.53% and 7.87% to 39.00%, re-
spectively. Significant differences were observed between the pilot
units. The highest removal efficiencies are achieved by unit U4, except
for PN, for which the highest removal efficiency was observed in unit
U1 (Fig. 2). The removal rates achieved by different pilot units also
significantly differ; the highest rates are observed in unit U3. We con-
clude that unit U4 is the major contributor to the removal of nitrogen
and phosphorus from domestic sewage via the ecological ditch. Fur-
thermore, the nutrient removal efficiencies from domestic sewage via
the ecological ditch could be greatly increased by increasing the size of
unit U3.
3.4. Seasonal variation of the nutrient removal efficiency
Table 5 shows the seasonal variation of the nutrient removal effi-
ciencies between the different seasons. The highest TN and NH4-N re-
moval efficiencies were observed in autumn, while the highest PN and
NO3-N removal efficiencies were observed in summer (Table 5). In
contrast, the highest TP and PP removal efficiencies were observed in
spring, while the highest PO4-P removal efficiency was observed in
summer. Furthermore, the lowest removal efficiencies of nitrogen and
phosphorus were both observed in winter. Significant differences were
detected for the four seasons (P < 0.05). The TN removal efficiencies
in spring, summer, and winter are 17.78%, 29.49%, and 55.51% lower
than that measured in autumn, respectively. Additionally, the TP re-
moval efficiencies in summer, autumn, and winter are 12.54%, 22.61%,
and 75.90% lower than that measured in spring, respectively. There-
fore, it can be concluded that the nitrogen and phosphorus removal
efficiencies from domestic sewage via an ecological ditch could be in-
fluenced by a change in the season. Additionally, improving the nu-
trient removal efficiencies in winter could be vital for the application of
ecological ditches.
3.5. Removal efficiencies under different hydraulic loads
The nutrient removal efficiencies under different hydraulic loads
T. Wang et al. Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

Table 2
Physicochemical characteristics and nutrient concentrations of sewage water (a: requirements for discharge from urban waste water treatment plants by the
European Commission; b: requirements for discharge from urban waste water treatment plants in China (GB 18918–2002)).
a b
Parameter n Average ± SD Minimum Maximum Requirements for discharge Requirements for discharge

pH 32 7.6 ± 0.4 6.7 9.1

T(°C) 32 14.4 ± 7.3 4.0 25.2
DO (mg L−1) 32 2.88 ± 1.11 1.16 4.42
COD (mg L−1) 21 151.54 ± 133.09 71.29 640.00 125 50
TN (mg L−1) 32 29.97 ± 10.99 8.35 109.11 15 15
PN (mg L−1) 32 5.87 ± 3.86 1.05 23.70
NH4-N (mg L−1) 32 21.99 ± 18.89 6.83 85.05
NO3-N (mg L−1) 32 1.48 ± 2.63 0.10 8.16
TP (mg L−1) 32 1.93 ± 0.75 0.56 8.38 2 1
PP (mg L−1) 32 0.79 ± 0.36 0.13 4.84
PO4-P (mg L−1) 32 1.01 ± 0.63 0.06 2.80
Hydraulic load (m3 d−1) 32 118 ± 143 31 562

*
n is sample number.

Table 3
Mean influent and effluent nutrient concentrations in the ecological ditch system and treatment efficiency during the monitoring period (one year). The minimum
and maximum values are listed in brackets.
Parameter Average (min.-max.)

Influent (mg L−1) Effluent (mg L−1) Removal efficiency (%) Removal rate (g m−2 d−1)

COD (n = 21*) 151.54(71.29–640.00) 27.73(12.64–49.67) 77.05(61.04–94.94) 43.32(9.74–122.76)

TN (n = 32) 29.97(8.35–109.11) 15.43(4.00–78.34) 47.97(14.87–84.24) 3.19(0.81–13.06)
PN (n = 32) 5.87(1.05–23.70) 1.87(0.16–5.98) 76.20(59.93–98.07) 1.46(0.15–5.87)
NH4-N(n = 32) 21.99(6.83–85.05) 12.68(4.07–75.83) 44.63(10.84–76.04) 2.50(0.75–11.10)
NO3-N(n = 32) 1.48(0.10–8.16) 0.81(0.04–4.14) 43.23(20.56–86.17) 0.24(0.01–2.32)
TP (n = 29) 1.93(0.56–8.38) 0.95(0.11–2.96) 49.79(13.93–86.22) 0.28(0.05–1.30)
PP (n = 29) 0.79(0.13–4.84) 0.26(0.02–0.63) 66.49(27.33–95.35) 0.22(0.01–0.83)
PO4-P (n = 29) 1.01(0.06–2.80) 0.41(0.03–1.48) 58.85(20.00–95.53) 0.18(0.01–0.68)

*n is sample number.

the hydraulic loads. The nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies

are generally lower under high hydraulic load conditions. However, the
phosphorus removal efficiency is not affected by the hydraulic load
when the hydraulic load is below 100 m3 d−1.

4. Discussion

4.1. Factors impacting the treatment performance of the ecological ditch

system

In summary, the domestic sewage in this township is a kind of high

Fig. 4. Dissolved oxygen concentrations at the different sampling points.
from May to December are shown in Fig. 5. The highest TN and NH4-N
removal efficiencies are observed under the lowest hydraulic load
(HL1), while the lowest removal efficiencies are observed under the
highest hydraulic load (HL5). Significant differences were observed
between the removal efficiencies of TN and NH4-N and the hydraulic
loads; Pearson correlation coefficients of −0.89 and −0.76, respec-
tively (P < 0.05), were obtained. In contrast to nitrogen, significant
differences were not determined between the other four hydraulic
loads, although the lowest removal efficiency of TP was observed under
HL5. Furthermore, significant differences were observed between the
five hydraulic loads; lower PO4-P removal efficiencies were observed
under high hydraulic loads (P < 0.05). Therefore, it can be concluded
that the nitrogen removal efficiencies of an ecological ditch depend on
nutrient and oxygen demanding pollutants, which originates restaurant
wastewater, residential sewage, and household wastewater. It is re-
presentative in the upper stream of the Yangtze River in China. 80% of
TN concentrations and 50% of TP concentrations in the domestic
sewage are higher than the requirements for discharge from urban
waste water treatment plants by the government of China (GB 18918-
2002, TN: 15 mg L−1; TP: 1 mg L−1), while 80% of TN concentrations
and 35% of TP concentrations in the domestic sewage are higher than
the requirements for discharge from urban waste water treatment
plants by the European Commission (European Commission, 1991, TN:
15 mg L−1; TP: 2 mg L−1). Therefore, it must be treated before it could
be discharge into received water.
The average TN and TP removal efficiencies of the ecological ditch
system obtained in this study are similar to those of other systems used
for the treatment of wastewater, which were reported by other studies.
For example, Yin et al. (2008) reported removal efficiencies of 48% for
TN and 61% for TP in vegetated ditches in the hilly Area of Southwest
China. Zhang et al. (2016) observed removal efficiencies of 51% for TN
for vegetated ditches in the hilly area of Central China. This suggests
that the ecological ditch system effectively treats domestic sewage
wastewater with high COD, TN, and TP concentrations. However, the

844
T. Wang et al. Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

Table 4
Average nutrient removal efficiencies and rates of different pilot units (the means ± standard deviation in each line followed by the same letter are not significantly
different; LSD test, P < 0.05).
Parameter Average removal efficiency (%) Average removal rate (g m−2 d−1)

U1 U2 U3 U4 U1 U2 U3 U4

COD (n = 21) 18.21 ± 14.74b 19.58 ± 13.04b 27.08 ± 13.21b 50.60 ± 22.64a 38.43 ± 53.37c 60.38 ± 41.32b 354.63 ± 481.59a 25.42 ± 27.71c
TN (n = 32) 11.89 ± 10.38b 8.16 ± 7.48b 7.97 ± 6.10b 30.82 ± 20.81a 2.05 ± 1.75c 5.06 ± 5.56b 18.49 ± 28.13a 2.73 ± 2.84c
PN (n = 25) 39.08 ± 19.19a 22.88 ± 16.42b 25.11 ± 15.22b 30.10 ± 21.56ab 1.97 ± 1.34b 2.86 ± 4.04b 9.15 ± 14.74a 0.38 ± 0.43c
NH4-N (n = 32) 12.11 ± 9.49b 11.70 ± 6.92b 9.03 ± 6.43b 19.59 ± 13.88a 1.63 ± 1.51c 6.45 ± 8.30b 16.24 ± 21.72a 1.40 ± 1.49c
NO3-N (n = 25) 15.02 ± 13.51a 9.18 ± 6.35b 9.43 ± 7.41b 18.51 ± 16.90a 0.18 ± 0.31b 0.25 ± 0.34b 1.49 ± 2.82a 0.21 ± 0.56b
TP (n = 29) 8.36 ± 9.30c 6.13 ± 5.44c 22.68 ± 17.33b 33.53 ± 17.51a 0.17 ± 0.34c 0.43 ± 0.72b 3.26 ± 2.95a 0.26 ± 0.33c
PP (n = 26) 9.90 ± 10.36c 9.54 ± 11.35c 26.21 ± 21.64b 46.17 ± 23.71a 0.09 ± 0.11c 0.25 ± 0.35b 2.80 ± 3.43a 0.19 ± 0.23b
PO4-P (n = 29) 9.11 ± 8.97c 7.87 ± 7.05c 28.70 ± 21.56b 39.00 ± 20.77a 0.08 ± 0.09c 0.24 ± 0.36b 2.62 ± 2.64a 0.20 ± 0.25b

*
n is sample number.

nutrient removal efficiencies of the ecological ditch system exhibit a
significant seasonal variation, ranging from 14.84% to 84.24% for TN
and 13.93%–86.22% for TP. The lowest nitrogen and phosphorus re-
moval efficiencies were observed during winter. Chen et al. (2015) also
reported that the removal efficiencies are higher during warmer months
than during cooler months and that they are highly sensitive to tem-
perature. In this study, we observed the highest TN and NH4-N removal
efficiencies in the autumn. This can be explained by two factors: tem-
perature and hydraulic flow rate (Wang et al., 2012; Postila et al.,
2015). Nitrogen was mostly removed via denitrification in vegetated
ditches (Soana et al., 2018). The peak of the denitrification in the ve-
getated ditch was observed in autumn at a temperature of 16 °C (De
Klein, 2008), which is similar to the temperature in autumn in this
study. However, denitrification in the vegetated ditch is not only
usually temperature dependant, but also other factors may affect the
process (i.e. nitrate and organic carbon availability, vegetation growth
stage affecting). On the other hand, the hydraulic flow rates in summer
were also higher than those in autumn due to higher precipitation
(Fig. 3). The high flow rates reduce the wastewater HRT in the ecolo-
gical ditch, leading to low N removal efficiency rates in summer.
Therefore, the higher TN and NH4-N removal efficiencies can be at-
tributed to the higher denitrification rate and HRT in autumn. In con-
trast to nitrogen, we observed the highest TP removal efficiencies in
spring because we renewed the filtration materials in spring.
Hydrologic variables, such as the HLR and HRT, are critical para-
meters for the sustainable operation of vegetated drainage ditches
(Kumwimba et al., 2018). Li et al. (2016) reported that the N removal
increases because the plants and weirs in vegetated ditches slow down
the water flow and extend the HRT. Soana et al. (2017) observed high
removal efficiencies of nutrients when the discharge was the lowest and
the HRT was the highest in vegetated ditches. Castaldelli et al. (2018)
found that the removal of NO3− via denitrification in vegetated sedi-
ments was strongly influenced by the flow conditions. These authors
concluded that the removal efficiencies of nutrients were affected by
hydrologic variables. In this study, the nitrogen and phosphorus
removal efficiencies are generally lower under high hydraulic loads
(Fig. 5). However, in contrast to the removal efficiency based on the
concentration, the highest removal loads of TN and TP are observed
under the highest hydraulic loads (Fig. 6). This suggests that the hy-
draulic load plays a much greater role in the nutrient removal load than
the removal efficiency based on the concentration under high hydraulic
loads.
Although the effect of the seasonal change and HLR on the nutrient
removal is discussed in this study, the pollutant removal efficiency via
an ecological ditch system could depend on several other factors such as
weirs, wetland plants, substrate materials, maintenance, and pollutant
concentrations (Meyer et al., 2013; Lucke et al., 2015; Kumwimba
et al., 2018). Nitrogen transformation processes in the sediment, such
as denitrification, could be responsible for the removal of N from the
water (Kumwimba et al., 2018). The P release under anoxic conditions
is attributed to the sediment release of those nutrients to the water
(Collins et al., 2016). Substrate materials in the sediment, such as clay
and organic matter, play a huge role in trapping P from the water
column during the winter season (Liu et al., 2015). Wetland plants play
an important role in the nutrient removal of ecological wetland ditches
because they do not only uptake nutrients but also directly alter the
concentrations of nutrients, DO, pH, and organic carbon in the ditch-
water through uptake and release (Carpenter, 1986; Weisner, 1994;
Körner, 1999; Soana et al., 2017). Moreover, lower inflow concentra-
tions lead to higher phosphorus removal efficiencies over time based on
the sorption capacity of the material (Tondera, 2017). However, these
factors are not isolated; they are connected by complex biogeochemical
processes that occur in ditches. Future studies must focus on the com-
bined effects of these factors on the nutrient concentrations in ditches
located in the hilly area of the central Sichuan Basin. Efforts should be
made to increase the nutrient removal efficiency through the applica-
tion of ecological ditches in this area.
The application of ecological ditches for domestic sewage treatment
might be limited because other factors affect the removal process such
as the population, economic activity, soil composition, and structure

Table 5
Seasonal nutrient removal efficiencies and rates of the ecological ditch system under a hydraulic load ranging from 30–60 m3 d−1 (the means ± standard deviation
in each line followed by the same letter are not significantly different; LSD test, P < 0.05).
Parameter Removal efficiency (%)

Spring Summer Autumn Winter

TN (n = 22) 57.27 ± 7.70b 49.12 ± 10.37b 69.66 ± 11.20a 30.99 ± 4.41c

PN (n = 22) 79.73 ± 12.53a 81.19 ± 12.25a 74.60 ± 10.55a 58.56 ± 12.72b
NH4-N(n = 22) 54.70 ± 7.04b 51.87 ± 6.25b 66.54 ± 7.71a 26.74 ± 14.81c
NO3-N(n = 18) 41.04 ± 0.24b 54.97 ± 13.55a 39.69 ± 11.26b 32.32 ± 6.10c
TP (n = 22) 67.85 ± 16.31a 59.34 ± 16.67a 52.51 ± 14.57a 16.35 ± 2.36b
PP (n = 22) 94.34 ± 1.01a 66.98 ± 13.02b 86.71 ± 0.19a 61.25 ± 18.25b
PO4-P (n = 22) 56.47 ± 15.22a 66.97 ± 17.38a 63.32 ± 22.04a 40.85 ± 1.91b

*
n is sample number.

845
T. Wang et al. Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849

Removal efficiency
80 80
a
70 70 a
a a
60 60 b
50 50

NH4-N (%)
b c
TN (%)

40 40 cd
b d
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
HL1 HL2 HL3 HL4 HL5 HL1 HL2 HL3 HL4 HL5
90 90
80 80
a a
70 a
70
a a
60 a a 60
50 50 b

PO4-P (%)
b
TP (%)

40 b 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
HL1 HL2 HL3 HL4 HL5 HL1 HL2 HL3 HL4 HL5
Fig. 5. Nutrient removal efficiencies of the ecological ditch system under different hydraulic loads from May to December (HL1: 30–50 m d ; HL2: 50–60 m3 d−1;
3 −1

HL3: 60–100 m3 d−1; HL4: 100–200 m3 d−1; HL5: > 200 m3 d−1; the means ± standard deviation in each column followed by the same letter are not significantly
different (LSD test, P < 0.05)).

(Kumwimba et al., 2018). Based on this study, the ecological ditch
system cannot be used for the domestic effluent treatment if the po-
pulation in the town is above 2000 people. In addition, the system
cannot be used if there are industrial effluents in the township.
4.2. Optimization and management of the ecological ditch system
The ecological ditch system is a special and more complex vegetated
ditch ecosystem with multiple treatment units that uses more diverse
natural and engineered processes than conventional vegetated ditches
for agricultural drainage treatment. The ecological ditch system also
differs from CWs such as reed beds or other engineered wetlands.
Compared with CWs, the vegetated ditches in the system are in-
tentionally filled with soil and sediment instead of gravel or other
substrates. The ecological ditch system could be considered as a type of
enforced vegetated ditch to avoid the toxicity of wastewater for plants
and improve the nutrient removal capacity under highly variable HLR.
In this study, the treatment technologies used to enhance the self-pur-
ification capacity of the vegetated ditches include sedimentation (U1),
aeration (U2), and a filter basin (U3). Each unit uses specific treatment
processes and has different treatment functions. Although we observed
high N and P removal efficiencies in the ecological ditch system, in-
evitable problems still need to be addressed such as lower nutrient re-
moval efficiencies in winter and fluctuating nutrient removal effi-
ciencies caused by highly varying hydraulic flow rates. Therefore, the
design must be optimized to improve the efficiency of the ecological
ditch system.
Improving the nutrient removal efficiency rates in winter is the most
difficult challenge in optimizing the ecological ditch system. We suggest
that using cold-hardy wetland plants in ecological ditches is critical to
achieve high nutrient removal efficiency rates during winter.
Additionally, the nutrient removal efficiency can be increased if the
domestic sewage is pretreated using physical and/or chemical processes
during winter (Tondera, 2017). Another challenge of the ecological
ditch system is the development of a method to consistently handle the
varying hydraulic flow rate, which makes the use of an ecological ditch
system with natural treatment methods unfavorable for treating do-
mestic sewage. One of the most economical and ecological solution
might involve vertical-flow CWs (Fonder et al., 2013; Tao et al., 2014).
Van de Moortel et al. (2009) compared surface and vertical-flow wet-
lands for combined sewage treatment and found that vertical-flow
wetlands have lower effluent concentrations. Umble et al. (2000) found
that deep vertical-flow wetland enhances the removal of nitrogen and
allows phosphate adsorption. Vertical-flow CWs were the key treatment
element of the ecological ditch system in this study and higher nutrient
removal rates were achieved than in vegetated ditch wetlands (U4).
This suggests that the nutrient removal efficiency can be improved by
increasing the scale of U3. However, single-stage CWs cannot achieve
high nitrogen removal rates because they cannot simultaneously pro-
vide aerobic and anaerobic conditions (Vymazal, 2007). Therefore,
vegetated ditches should be combined to utilize the specific advantages
of individual CWs.
The long-term operation of vegetated ditches still faces much risk of
failure due to poor maintenance (Kumwimba et al., 2018); the ecolo-
gical ditch system is no exception. For example, clogging caused by
sediment accumulation is a key issue that impedes the operation of
ecological ditch systems. Based on several studies, ditch sediments from
agricultural fields can be used to control the export of phosphorus in
headwater catchments and serve as sorbents for water with high levels
of P (Zhu et al., 2012). However, excess sediments will affect the per-
formance of the filtration section. Furthermore, the bed of the ecolo-
gical wetland ditch rises due to the excessive accumulation of sediment
in wetland ditches, which could lead to a decline in the HRT and da-
mage adjacent farmland. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly remove

846
T. Wang et al.
Fig. 6. Nutrient removal load of the ecological ditch system under different hydraulic loads from May to December (HL1: 30–50 m3 d−1; HL2: 50–60 m3 d−1; HL3:
60–100 m3 d−1; HL4: 100–200 m3 d−1; HL5: > 200 m3 d−1; the means ± standard deviation in each column followed by the same letter are not significantly
different (LSD test, P < 0.05)).
excess sediment that has accumulated in the ecological ditch system. In
this study, the accumulated sediment in the system was regularly
managed for three months including dredging and renewing. These
measures ensure the sustainable operation of the ecological ditch
system.
Based on many studies, harvesting of above-ground biomass is an
effective practice to improve the water quality of eutrophic ecosystems
by removing nutrients assimilated and stored in plant tissue (Ruiz et al.
2010; Wang et al., 2014). If the plants are not regularly harvested,
dissolved nutrient is taken up by the plants but remains in the system
(Tondera, 2017). In different with these studies, Soana et al. (2018)
found that vegetation harvesting would only result in little N removal
but would negatively affect the denitrification in the vegetated ditches
throughout the growing season. Therefore, they recommended a more
conservative management of vegetation including the postponement of
mowing to the end of winter, just before the start of the new growing
season. Kumwimba et al., (2017)a,b found that the amounts of nitrogen
and phosphorous uptake by the plant body were affected significantly
by biomass. For example, C. indica has the very larger total biomass
(4176.48 g) than other plants. The mean N and P uptake in the whole
plant body of C. indica was 1.10 g m−2 d−1 and 0.11 g m−2 d−1, re-
spectively (Kumwimba et al., 2017a,b). In this study, the average TN
and TP removal rates of the system are 3.19 g m−2 d−1 and
0.28 g m−2 d−1, respectively. So it could be concluded that the uptake
of plants with high biomass, such as C. indica, T. dealbata, and P. het-
eroclada Oliver, could result in large nutrient removal in the ecological
ditch system. Therefore, regular mowing of the C. indica and P. het-
eroclada Oliver is recommended for the management of ecological ditch
system to prevent the release of nutrients from the decomposed plant
into the ditch water. Moreover, excessive plant growth is not conducive
during flood events and could accelerate the sediment accumulation in
ecological wetland ditches in this study.
847
Journal of Hydrology 570 (2019) 839–849
5. Conclusions
This study explores an effective technology to prevent the nutrient
pollutant loads of domestic sewage from entering the receiving water in
hilly areas. We constructed an ecological ditch system to remove the
nutrients from domestic sewage with high nutrient concentrations. The
results indicate that the ecological ditch removes significant amounts of
N and P from domestic sewage. The average TN removal efficiency and
rate are 47.97% and 3.19 g m−2 d−1, respectively. Similarly, the
average TP removal efficiency and rate are 49.79% and
0.28 g m−2 d−1, respectively. The nutrient removal efficiency exhibits a
significant seasonal variation and is sensitive to the temperature and
hydraulic load. The nutrient removal efficiencies in spring and autumn
are higher than those of other months due to the warm temperatures
and low flow rates. Our results indicate that using ecological ditches to
treat water containing high concentrations of nutrients from domestic
sewage could be applied locally and in areas of similar topography.
However, the nutrient removal capacity is limited. To maintain high
nutrient removal rates in the future, the dynamic management of this
system is required. Based on our results, the screening of cold-hardy
wetland plants, increase of filtration scale, regular mowing, and sedi-
ment management are recommended for the use of ecological ditch
system.
Acknowledgements
This study was jointly supported by the Key Lab of Mountain
Surface Process and Ecological Regulation, and the National key re-
search plan of China (No. 2017YFD0800105), and the Hundred Talents
Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
T. Wang et al.
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