Soil amendments and water management to improve attenuation and recovery of wastewater originated nutrients through a vegetation filter.

Vegetation filters (VFs) are on-site wastewater (WW) treatments that can be considered as a nature-based solution (NbS). They are green infrastructures that provide several environmental benefits such as non-potable water reuse, contamination reduction, biomass production, landscaping improvements and CO fixation, among others. However, nutrient leaching, especially nitrate, partially exists.

Evaluation of contaminants of emerging concern attenuation through a vegetation filter managed using different operating conditions.

In wastewater treatment using Vegetation Filters (VFs), natural processes reduce contaminants present in water although some of them can reach the environment. In this study, 39 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are evaluated in a pilot VF under different operating conditions during almost four years. The use of woodchip amendments and the change from surface irrigation through furrows to drip irrigation (and from weekly to daily water application) provide CEC concentration reductions in the water infiltrating through the vadose zone.