Green Plants for Wastewater Treatment:European Approaches and Trends
Jean-Paul SchwitzguébelLaboratory for Environmental BiotechnologySwiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
CH - 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
1. What is a COST Action ?
2. Plants and bacteria: who is doing what ?
3. New applications for constructed wetlands
4. The Epuvalisation system
5. Development of a process to treat wastewater from dye and textile industry
Overview
European CO-operation in the field of
Scientific and Technical Research
� A concerted Action is the co-ordination at a European level of national research projects
� COST funding covers the co-ordination expenses of each Action:
- contribution to Meetings and Workshops- support of Short-Term Scientific Missions
1) What is COST ?
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONRESEARCH DG - EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA : STRUCTURAL ASPECTS
COST
4
22 July 2002
I COST Member States! The fifteen EU MemberStates! EFTA Member States" Iceland" Norway" Switzerland*
! Candidate Countries" Bulgaria" Cyprus " Czech Republic" Estonia" Hungary " Latvia" Lithuania
* Not Associated to FP
COST Countries
II Co-operating State" Israel
" Malta " Poland" Romania" Slovak Republic" Slovenia" Turkey*
! Other Countries" Federal Republic of Yugoslavia* " Croatia * " Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)*
COST Characteristics
� Concerted Actions / Networking
� Co-ordination� Pan-European� �Non-competitive�
(pre-normative; environmental and cross-border problems; public utility)
� Financed nationally
� Bottom-up / Flexibility
� �A la carte� participation
� �Integration�� Complementarity� Exploratory � Commission
involvement
COST Structures
Advisory bodies to the CSO
MC = Management Committee
Commission COST
Secretariat
COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS (CSO)
COST National Co-ordinators
Council COST Secretariat
COST Technical
Committees (12)
COST Actions(160-200)
AgricultureBiotechnol. PhysicsTransport Chemistry
WORKING GROUPS (NETWORKS) �� ~6000 research groupsScientific Domain
MC MC MC MC MC MCMC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC
COST Action 837
Plant biotechnology for the removal of organic pollutants and toxic metals from
wastewaters and contaminated sites
180 scientists and 120 institutesfrom 24 COST countries
http://lbewww.epfl.ch/COST837
Working Groups
WG1Organic pollutants:
metabolic andenzymatic studies
WG3Optimizing of plants bymetabolic engineering
WG2Toxic metals:screening anduptake studies
WG4Cultivation and
utilizationof plants
2) Plants and bacteria: who is doing what ?
Peter Schroeder and Diana DaubnerInstitute of Soil Ecology, GSFNeuherberg (Germany)
The �green liver� concept
Xenobiotic,Pesticide
Phase I:activation
Phase II:detoxification
Phase III:metabolism/excretion
oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis
conjugation:glutathionesugarsamino acids
cleavage, transport,residue formation
Phragmites in phytoremediation
� Best known species in sewage treatment
� High biomass production� Better success than
without plants...� Black box syndrome:
seems to work...
Presence of detoxification enzymes: Peroxidase
POX activity, young leaves
0.000 5.000 10.000 15.000 20.000 25.000
Portugal1.J
Portugal2.J
Portugal(N).J
Italy.J
Austria.J
CGN1.J
CGN2.J
Danube J
activity [µmol/min]
Presence of detoxification enzymes: Peroxidase
POX activity, old leaves
0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500
Portugal1.A
Portugal2.A
Portugal(N).A
Italy.A
Austria.A
CGN1, A
CGN2, A
Danube.A
activity [µmol/min]
Presence of detoxification enzymes: Peroxidase
POX activity, roots
0.000 2.000 4.000 6.000 8.000 10.000 12.000 14.000
Portugal1.R
Portugal2.R
Portugal(N).R
Italy.R
Austria.R
CGN1, R
CGN2, R
Danube, R
activity [µmol/min]
Glutathione-S-transferase in Phragmites plants
GST activity, old leaves
0 5 10 15 20 25
Portugal1
Portugal2
Portugal(N)
Italy
Austria
CGN1
CGN2
Danube
activity [µmol/min]
FluorodifenCDNB
Glutathione-S-transferase in Phragmites plants
GST activity, roots
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Portugal1
Portugal2
Portugal(N)
Italy
Austria
CGN1
CGN2
Danube
activity [µmol/min]
FluorodifenCDNB
Will the pollutant enter the plant ??
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7log Kow
pka
arylpropionic acids
phenoxyacetic acidsbenzoic acidssulfonylureasimidazolines
triazinones
s-triazinessubst.ureas
dinitroanilines
immobileonly xylemphloe m & xyle m
optimal phloem
from: Hock et al. 1995
Comments
� Phragmites is utilized in many waste water treatment systems
� Support for biofilms, filtering capacity for pollutants, C-source
� Uptake is demonstrated; Detoxification enzymes are present
� Distribution of enzymes depends on plant status and age
� Several xenobiotics are detoxified
� Remediation might be more effective if mechanisms were
known
Susete Martins DiasInstituto Superior TécnicoLisbon (Portugal)
3) New applications for constructed wetlands
Case Studies of Industrial Wastewater Case Studies of Industrial Wastewater Case Studies of Industrial Wastewater Treatment in Constructed WetlandsTreatment in Constructed WetlandsTreatment in Constructed Wetlands
IST/Centre of Biological and Chemical Eng.IST/Centre of Biological and Chemical Eng.PORTUGALPORTUGAL
Industrial Site
Nitric acid Nitric acid PlantPlant
Nitrobenzene Nitrobenzene PlantPlant
AnilineAnilinePlantPlant
H2SO4
H2
Benzene
ANILINEANILINE
NITROBENZENENITROBENZENE
NitratesNB
BenzeneNitrophenolic compounds
Ammoniarecovery
NH3
Effluent contaminants
Up to 150 ppmUp to 1000 ppm
!Nitrobenzene!Aniline!Nitrophenolic compounds
SO4-
Cl-
!Benzene!Nitrates
OrganicInorganic
Constructed Wetland for Wastewater Treatment
Effluent sampling point
Nutrients
Pilot beds
567
10
89
4321
Effluent
Inffluent
Bed 4 Bed 3 Bed 2 Bed 1
Saída
Inlet
Equalizationbasin
Outlet
Industrialdischarge
Construction � October 1994
Feeding system detail
Constructed wetland
Aromatics removal (1999)
1
10
100
1000
9-Feb
31-Mar
20-May
9-Jul
28-Aug
17-Oct
Con
cent
ratio
n (p
pm)
ANLinMNBinANLefMNBef
Nitrate and COD removal
1
10
100
1000
10000
24/May
3/Jun
13/Jun
23/Jun
3/Jul
13/Jul
ppm
NO3 inNO3 outCODinCODout
Comments
" The feasibility of constructed wetlands to treat industrial wastewater is a reality
" Constructed wetlands reaches efficiencies up to 99% to remove nitroaromatics from industrial wastewaters
" Denitrification of industrial wastewater with nitrate concentrations up to 1000 mg/L is being carried out
" The recirculation of the treated wastewater to the cooling tower is possible
4) The Epuvalisation system
Philippe Dumont and Dimitri XanthoulisFUSAGx, Gembloux (Belgium)
Tertiary treatment of domestic wastewater
Parameter Removal
Suspended solids 87%BOD5 83%COD 77%N Kjeldahl 47%NH4 30%PO4 20%Coliforms 99%
5) Development of a process to treat wastewater from dye and textile industry
Sylvie Aubert, Stéphanie Braillard, Stéphanie Jullien, Regula Buser and Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel
LBE, EPFL, Lausanne (Switzerland)
Sulphonated anthraquinones
O
O
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8
O
O
1
SO3H O
O
2
SO3H
O
O
1
SO 3 H
5
HO 3 S
O
O
1
SO3H
8
HO3S O
O
2
SO3H
HO3S6
AQ AQ-1-S AQ-2-S
AQ-1,5-SS AQ-1,8-SS AQ-2,6-SS
Hydroculture and hydroponic culture of Rheum and Rumex
Hydroculture and hydroponic culture of Rheum and Rumex
Removal of anthraquinone-1-sulphonate (2 mmol, 6 weeks)
Quantity o f AQ1S re maining afte r 6 we e ks
0. 00
200. 00
400. 00
600. 00
800. 00
1000. 00
1200. 00
1400. 00
1600. 00
s p e c i e s o r v a r i e t i e s
q u a n t i t y o f A Q 1 S
[ m i c r o m o l e s ]
R ume x hydr ol a pa tum
c ont r ol
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Va l e nt ine
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Sut ton
De a d r oot
De a d r oot wi th l i ght
c ont r ol
Api um gr a ve ole ns
R ume x a c e tos a
C ont r ol
C ont r ol wi thout l i ght
C ont r ol wi thout oxyge n
Removal of anthraquinone-2-sulphonate (2 mmol, 6 weeks)
Quantity of AQ2S remaining after 6 weeks
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
s p e c i e s o r v a r i e t i e s
Q u a n t i t y o f A Q 2 S
[ m i c r o m o l e s ]
R ume x hydr ol a pa tum
c ont r ol
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Va l e nt ine
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Sut ton
De a d r oot
De a d r oot wi th l i ght
c ont r ol
Api um gr a ve ole ns
R ume x a c e tos a
C ont r ol
C ont r ol wi thout l i ght
C ont r ol wi thout oxyge n
Removal of anthraquinone 2,6 disulphonate (2 mmol, 6 weeks)
Quantity of AQ2,6SS remaining after 6 weeks
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
s p e c i e s o r v a r i e t i e s
Q u a n t i t y o f A Q 2 , 6 S S
[ m i l i m o l e s ]
R ume x hydr ol a pa tum
c ont r ol
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Va l e nt ine
R he um r a ba r ba r um: Sut ton
De a d r oot
De a d r oot wi th l i ght
c ont r ol
Api um gr a ve ole ns
R ume x a c e tos a
C ont r ol
C ont r ol wi thout l i ght
C ont r ol wi thout oxyge n
Outlook: Green Wastewater Treatment Plants
exutoireSTEP
