Birnessite-coated sand filled vertical flow constructed wetlands improved nutrients removal in a cold climate.

At low temperature, plants wither and microbial activities decrease, leading to a decline in the pollutant-treatment performance of constructed wetlands (CWs). In this study, vertical flow CWs (VFCWs) with birnessite (Mn oxides)-coated sand (Mn-CWs) were developed to investigate the pollutant removal performance and mechanism in a cold climate. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies for NH-N, NO-N, TN, and TP were 73.81%, 90.66%, 82.44%, and 57.89% in Mn-CWs, respectively, while the average removal efficiencies for NH-N, NO-N, TN, and TP were 29.07%, 90.40%, 62.80%, and 26.32% in the control, respectively. Mn-CWs enhanced microbial denitrification and matrix storage, as well as inhibited P release in Mn-CWs at low temperature. According to GC-MS analysis of the organic compounds, the Mn-CWs matrix contained much more short-chain volatile organic compounds, such as carboxylic acid derivatives, while the control matrix had more ethyl acetate. The absolute quantities of bacterial 16S rRNA, , , , and were significantly higher than the control at 20 cm height from the bottom ( > 0.05). Illumina high-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that the relative abundances of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria were both higher in Mn-CWs than that of the control. CWs filled with birnessite-coated sand represent an innovative approach for improving nutrient removal performance in cold climates through chemical absorption and microbial transformation.