Campus de Puerto Real, University of Cádiz, Polígono San Pedro s/n, Puerto Real, 11519, Cádiz, Spain.
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali, University of Bologna, Via Umberto Terracini 28, 40131, Bologna, Italy.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Apr;26(10):10354-10362. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-04508-4. Epub 2019 Feb 13.
One of the possible ways to improve the operation efficiency of constructed wetlands and to prevent their clogging is the application of earthworms. They have already been successfully applied for vermicomposting and for sludge dewatering and treatment. A few studies have already examined the effect of earthworms on the treatment of wastewater by vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs), but none of them have provided a yearlong research result from an open-air system or compared the effect that different seasons in a temperate climate area can have on these invertebrates. The goal of this research was to estimate the effect that earthworms and plants have on VFCW's operation. Four mesocosms (a filter, a filter with earthworms, a VFCW and a VFCW with earthworms) were built and their influent and effluent water quality was monitored for a period of 1 year. They were fed with wastewater coming from a building of the University of Bologna (Italy). The results have shown that the presence of earthworms in this specific system did not reduce the organic matter content of the substrate, but it has positively influenced plants' growth. However, since neither earthworms nor plants had a statistically significant effect on the effluent quality, it can be concluded that the integration of these invertebrates cannot improve wastewater treatment of vertical flow filters or constructed wetlands.
一种提高人工湿地运行效率和防止其堵塞的可能方法是应用蚯蚓。它们已经成功地应用于蚯蚓堆肥、污泥脱水和处理。一些研究已经考察了蚯蚓对垂直流人工湿地（VFCWs）处理废水的影响，但没有一项研究提供了来自露天系统的长达一年的研究结果，也没有比较温带地区不同季节对这些无脊椎动物的影响。本研究的目的是评估蚯蚓和植物对 VFCW 运行的影响。建造了四个中观模型（一个过滤器、一个带蚯蚓的过滤器、一个 VFCW 和一个带蚯蚓的 VFCW），并对其进水和出水水质进行了为期一年的监测。它们以来自意大利博洛尼亚大学（University of Bologna）的建筑物的废水为食。结果表明，蚯蚓在这个特定系统中的存在并没有降低基质中的有机物含量，但它对植物的生长有积极的影响。然而，由于蚯蚓和植物对出水质量都没有统计学上的显著影响，可以得出结论，这些无脊椎动物的整合不能改善垂直流过滤器或人工湿地的废水处理。
