Reedbeds
There is currently a lot of research and effort aimed at understanding and restoring these endangered habitats around the world. They are among the most biologically productive natural ecosystems in the world.
Constructed wetlands or reed beds can provide:
- water quality improvement;
- flood storage and the desynchronization of storm rainfall and surface runoff;
- cycling of nutrients and other materials;
- habitat for fish- and wildlife;
- passive recreation, such as bird watching and photography;
- active recreation, such as hunting;
- education and research; and
- aesthetics and landscape enhancement.
Clear Water Revival has the expertise to construct Reed beds for the following applications:
- For the optimization of the regeneration zone in Natural Swimming Pools;
- For restoring lakes and ponds that have become very mirky, silted and over-run with algae;
- For protecting lakes and ponds from the nutrient laden run-off of surrounding agricultural land;
- For treating agricultural waste in a low maintenance and affordable manner; and
- For treating and recycling household waste-water, cutting water bills and conserving water where it is short supply.
Wetland plants, such as reeds, transfer atmospheric oxygen down through their roots in order to survive in waterlogged conditions. This creates both aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions, allowing extraordinary microbial species diversity to flourish. These bacteria and fungi can use organic pollutants as a food source, breaking down a wide range of organic chemical products. So, chemicals are not simply stored in the reed bed; they are actually degraded into harmless components. Other contaminants, such as metals, are transformed from a toxic, mobile state and fixed in the soil via complex chemical reactions. Soils adsorption capacity also provides a buffer for peak or shock effluent loads.
The complexity of microbial life and powerful reactions within the root zone of the soil based reed bed result in an extraordinary water cleaning capability. This capability is often far less constrained than in many chemical or physical wastewater treatment systems.
Constructed wetlands are now used to improve the quality of point and nonpoint sources of water pollution, including stormwater runoff, domestic wastewater, agricultural wastewater, and coal mine drainage. Constructed wetlands are also being used to treat petroleum refinery wastes, compost and landfill leachates, fish pond discharges, and pretreated industrial wastewaters, such as those from pulp and paper mills, textile mills, and seafood processing. For some wastewaters, constructed wetlands are the sole treatment; for others, they are one component in a sequence of treatment processes.
Constructed wetlands for water treatment are complex, integrated systems of water, plants, animals, microorganisms, and the environment. While wetlands are generally reliable, self-adjusting systems, an understanding of how natural wetlands are structured and how they function greatly increases the likelihood of successfully constructing a treatment wetland.
Image courtesy of Dr Steven Pinker
