Phytoremediation of Municipal Run-off using Typha Orientalis and Sorghum Arundinaceum in SubSurface Constructed Wetland System

Constructed wetland is an innovative and emerging ecological technology for wastewater treatment. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a pilot scale sub-surface flow constructed wetland unit (SSFCW) comprising of 5 cells treatment system of 1800mm x 900 x 900 mm each built within the vicinity of Department of Civil Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso Nigeria. Three wetland cells were utilized, with two cells planted with two kinds of plants namely; Typha Orientalis and Sorghum Arundinaceum. The unplanted third cell served as control. The wetland cells were fed with municipal runoff wastewater and treated effluents were collected for analyses at 5 day interval for a retention period of 10 days. The results obtained showed that phytoremediation reduced 72% Turbidity, 97% of Nitrate, 86% Phosphate, and 97% of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). Metal contents in treated wastewaters such as Lead (Pb) and Iron (Fe) were decreased up to 89% and 87% for Sorghum Arundinaceum and 71% and 97% for Typha Orientalis respectively. To conclude, the quality of treated effluent proved that the use of SSFCW, using locally available macrophytes to remove heavy metals, Turbidity, Nitrate, Phosphate and BOD, is an effective technology for municipal runoff wastewater treatment and use for irrigation in rural areas and small communities