Impact of hydraulic loading on removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from vertical-flow wetland

The effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) removal on lab-simulated vertical wetland systems, each containing eight dominant species, under continuous- and intermittent-flow feeding modes, were determined. The main results were: (1) PAHs removal effect was greater in intermittent-flow system than in continuous-flow system, with the exception of the floating plant Hydrilla verticillata wetland. This may be due to pollutants remaining stable for longer duration under intermittent-flow mode, which is conducive to microbial, plant, and water absorption of PAHs, as well as to microbial decomposition and absorption by plant roots; (2) absorption and degradation rates of PAHs varied among wetland body plants in different periods with removal efficiencies of 30%–70% observed following the first and fifth cycles, and under high-performance degradation conditions; (3) mean removal rates of PAHs by hydrophytes under continuous-flow mode were as follows: H. verticillata (34.4%), Arundo donax (Gramineae) (33.2%), Phragmites australis (28.7%), Ipomoea aquatica Forsk (Convolvulaceae) (28.5%), Zizania aquatic (27.6%), Calla palustris (Araceae) (27.2%), Acorus calamus (26.8%), and Hardy canna (17.9%); (4) average rates of PAHs removal by hydrophyte under intermittent-flow mode were as follows: A. donax (40.5%), Z. aquatic (37.9%), A. calamus (37.0%), P. australis (36.9%), Hardy canna (34.6%), C. palustris (33.9%), I. aquatica (31.2%), and H. verticillata (29.3%).