Iwa wetlands systems no 44 june 2014(1)

1
IWA Specialist Group on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
June 2014 Newsletter
Specialist Group on
Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
Newsletter No. 44
June 2014
Edited by: Dr Guenter Langergraber
Institute of Sanitary Engineering
University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences Vienna (BOKU)
Vienna
Austria
Email: guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at
SG Officers
Chair: Dr Fabio Masi (masi@iridra.com)
Secretary: Dr Guenter Langergraber
(guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at)
Regional Coordinators
ASIA: Dr Zhai Jun (zhaijun99@126.com; zhaijun@cqu.edu.cn)
Dr Suwasa Kantwanichkul (suwasa@eng.cmu.ac.th)
AUSTRALIA: Dr John Bavor(jbavor@gmail.com)
NEW ZEALAND: Dr Chris C. Tanner (c.tanner@niwa.co.nz)
EUROPE: Dr Florent Chazarenc (Florent.Chazarenc@mines-nantes.fr)
Dr Gabriela Dotro (g.c.dotro@cranfield.ac.uk)
Dr Guenter Langergraber (guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at)
Dr Fabio Masi (masi@iridra.com)
Mr Heribert Rustige (rustige@akut-umwelt.de)
Dr Jan Vymazal (vymazal@yahoo.com)
MIDDLE EAST: Professor Michal Green (agmgreen@tx.technion.ac.il)
Dr Tom Headley (tom.headley@bauerenvironment.com)
NORTH AMERICA: Dr Otto Stein (ottos@ce.montana.edu)
SOUTH AMERICA: Dr Silvana Cutolo (silvana.cutolo@gmail.com)
AFRICA Professor Jamidu H.Y. Katima (jkatima@udsm.ac.tz)
Dr Akintunde Babatunde (BabatundeA@cardiff.ac.uk)
Disclaimer: This is not a journal, but a Newsletter issued by the IWA Specialist Group on Wetland Systems for
Water Pollution Control. Statements made in this Newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of the
Specialist Group or those of the IWA. The use of information supplied in the Newsletter is at the sole risk of the
user, as the Specialist Group and the IWA do not accept any responsibility or liability.

2
CONTENTS
Editorial
Fabio Masi 3
Recent and upcoming SG activities
Günter Langergraber 5
The new constitution of the Wetlands System SG
Günter Langergraber and Fabio Masi 8
Call for proposals for the 15th IWA International Conference on Wetland Systems for
Water Pollution Control (ICWS2016)
Fabio Masi and Günter Langergraber 10
Call for candidates for Regional Coordinators election
Günter Langergraber and Fabio Masi 11
14th IWA Specialist Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
Updates and 2nd Announcement 12
Virtual special issues of Water Sci Technol from the Venice 2010 and Perth 2012
conferences
Günter Langergraber 17
Interviewing Clodagh Murphy
Frank van Dien 21
Vertical Filter Ecotechnology System (V-EcoTech-Filter): An innovative and novel
ecotechnology for the nature-like remediation of contaminated groundwater
Khaja Zillur Rahman, Peter Mosig, Jaime Nivalla, Manfred van Afferden 25
Exchange project between BOKU and GUT on modelling constructed wetland
systems for high strength wastewater
Günter Langergraber and Magdalena Gajewska 28
News from IWA Headquarters 30
New from IWA Publishing 32

3
EDITORIAL
Dear SG members,
while the organisation of the next ICWS2014 in Shanghai is smoothly taking place, I’d like to
bring your attention on some statistics that I’ve received from the IWA HQ about the trends
of our Specialist Group.
As you can see in the
following graph the SG
membership is constantly in
between 450-550 members
(in 2014, not shown in the
graph, we are back at 477),
with a peak of 569 reached in
2013. This total number of
members puts the SG in
between the medium-size
IWA groups and that’s
already a great result obtained
along the last 25 years of
passionate participation in
spreading the wetland
technologies around the world
and in going deeper and deeper
in the related knowledge.
Another great result is the
worldwide regional distribution
of the membership: in 2013, the
majority of group members are
from Western Europe, East
Asia & the Pacific and Latin
America & the Caribbean.
It is worth notice that the big
growth in Latin America &
the Caribbean region and the
decrease in Western Europe
and The Middle East are
noticeable.
In the past 5 years, SG
membership figures have
been growing continuously in
some regions such as China
and South Asia.
Taking these considerations in mind and wishing for further increasing trends, I invite you all
to devote a few minutes for reading the new SG constitution. The changes made and

4
approved by the Managing Committee are aimed to involve as much as possible all the
members in decisions and in the SG activities. The “fast rotation” of the SG officers and
coordinators, regulated by elections extended to the whole membership by electronic voting
and the choice of the conference venues by a similar approach. These ideas are conceived for
bringing new energies and ideas into the SG on a regular basis. As this is already happening,
for instance with the recent application coordinated by Gabriela Dotro, for the creation of a
new IWA Task Group aimed to the dissemination of the updated status of the wetland
technologies by the involvement of our YWP members.
The social media implemented in the last 2 years are also working fine, with a constant
increasing number of followers of the Facebook page and members of the FB group and a
quite good interaction taking place over there. It’s noticeable that the highest percentage of
the page followers falls into the age range 25-34, showing a desirable interest to the topic by
the young professionals and researchers.
In the current world, the need of low technological profile approaches for solving numerous
issues of the water and wastewater management worldwide is very high. Wetland
technologies together to deep changes in the sanitation approaches, that in my vision must go
towards fluxes segregation at the sources and be as much “resource recovery oriented” as
possible in every single case, can surely have a primary role for a future sustainable approach
in the overall water management. In economic terms this process could possibly involve
important savings in respect to the current practices and provide as final result a better
environment and reduced impacts of the urbanisation and use of land by the human race. We
still need lot of research for being able to model performances and economical aspects related
to treatment units used in diffuse approaches for i.e. greywater reuse, urban runoff
management, CSOs, agro-industrial facilities, etc. So keep up going and contribute as you
can and wish to this SG activities for making it grow up even more and involve all the other
linked specialists in the water sector.
Looking forward to meeting you all in Shanghai,
Fabio Masi
Chair of the SG

5
RECENT AND UPCOMING SG ACTIVITIES
by Günter Langergraber, Secretary of the SG
This part of the newsletter shall inform you about SG activities since our last newsletter was
published and future activities planned.
1) SG activities
IWA yearbook 2014
On behalf of the Wetland Systems SG Fabio Masi prepared an article for the IWA yearbook
2014.
Procedure for submitting proposals for ICWS conferences
The MC of the SG decided that there should be a more strict procedure for presenting
proposals for ICWS conferences. The general procedure for conference proposers shall be:
1. Call for proposals in the spring SG newsletter prior to the SG conference
2. Submission deadline for proposals about 6 weeks prior to the conference (template for
proposals is available on the SG WaterWiki site and must be followed; this shall
enable comparable proposals) - late proposals will not be considered anymore
3. SG officers reviews proposals and may ask for modifications
4. Proposals will be made available on the SG WaterWiki site at least 2 weeks before the
SG meeting (conference)
5. Presentation discussion of proposals at SG meeting
6. Voting
Members vote on the procedure to select the next conference venue.
When discussing the procedure for submitting proposals for ICWS conferences the MC also
started discussing the voting procedure. Some members expressed their wish to be able to
vote also if they are not present at the SG meeting which are traditionally held during the SG
conferences.
In March 2014 we electronically asked the SG members regarding their preference:
1) Leave the procedure as it is, i.e. voting will be done by SG members present at the SG
meeting after the presentations of the conference proposals; announcement of the
winning proposal during the conference dinner or at the closing session of the
conference.
2) Electronic voting after the SG meeting (i.e. vote will be open for all SG members for
a period of 2-3 weeks after the SG meeting); announcement of the winning proposal
in the SG newsletter released after the conference.
3) A mix between 1 and 2 (with personnel vote and electronic vote counting e.g. 50%
each); SG members present at the SG meeting will vote personally, all SG members
not present will receive an invitation to vote electronically after the conference;
announcement of the winning proposal in the SG newsletter released after the
conference.

6
The result of this survey was as follows:
1) Leave the procedure as it is: 18 %
2) Electronic voting after the SG meeting: 48 %.
3) A mix between 1 and 2: 36 %.
The results were clear. The majority wants to have a change of the voting procedure.
Therefore the voting for the next SG conference will be from now on electronically after the
SG meeting.
In the case of more than 2 proposals a 2nd round of voting might be required (see SG
constitution). Anyway, the SG lead aims finalize the conference voting procedure latest until
the end of the year in which the SG conference takes place.
SG constitution
After the decision on the above-mentioned topics, the SG constitution was updated, and
finally discussed and agreed with in the MC of the SG.
The SG constitution becomes effective with the publication in this newsletter (see page 8).
Election of new SG Regional Coordinators
With the new SG constitution, we also decided that the Regional Coordinators, i.e. the
Management Committee of SG, shall be elected from now on. The elections of the Regional
Coordinators shall be in between the election of the SG leads, i.e. we have to organise the
election of the new Regional Coordinators.
All Regional Coordinators can be re-elected, i.e. the current Regional Coordinators need to
apply to become Regional Coordinator again.
The current SG officers (chair and secretary) are members of the MC and are therefore not
eligible candidates for this election. When the SG officers are stepping back, they stay
members of the MC to ensure a smooth hand-over to the new SG officers. For the next
election of Regional Coordinators, they can be candidates again.
Additionally, it was decided that the number of Regional Coordinators should be in line with
the number of SG members in the regions. For the elections, the following Table lists the
regions (based on regions defined by IWA), the SG members per region and the number of
Regional Coordinators (RCs) we assign per region (in brackets the numbers of RCs we have
up to now). The target was to have around 40 SG members per Regional Coordinator.
Region SG members # RCs SG members / RC
Africa 39 1 (2) 39
China 58 1 (1) 58
Asia (except China) 79 2 (1) 39
Oceania 37 1 (2) 37
Latin America 59 1 (1) 59
North America 44 1 (1) 44
The Middle East 11 1 (2) 11
Europe 199 5 (6) 40
Total 523 13 (16) 40 (average)

7
2) Proposal for new Task Group on "Mainstreaming the use of treatment wetlands" submitted
Under the lead of Gabriela Dotro (Cranfield University, UK) we have prepared a proposal for
a new IWA Task Group on "Mainstreaming the use of treatment wetlands". We defined
3 main tasks for the work of the TG:
1. Updating and enhancing of the IWA Scientific and Technical Report on Wetland
Technology (ISBN 9781900222051).
2. Developing a new chapter on Wetland Technology to be included in the textbook
“Biological wastewater treatment in warm climate regions” (ISBN 9781780402734).
3. Organising a workshop to increase collaboration with closely related IWA Wetland
Systems SG.
The proposed members of the TG core group are besides Gaby Dotro and myself, Jaime
Nivala (UFZ Leipzig, Germany), Jaume Puigagut (UPC Barcelona, Spain) and Otto Stein
(Montana State University, USA).
To achieve its objectives, the TG core group aims to involve of a large number of active SG
members.
The proposal was submitted early May 2014, it is aimed to start the TG work in 2015. Once
approved by IWA we aim to present the TG and its planned activities at the upcoming SG
meeting in Shanghai.
3) Planned events and activities of the Wetlands SG
The following events and activities are planned by the SG for 2014.
• IWA World Water Congress, 21–26 September 2014, Lisbon, Portugal
(http://www.iwa2014lisbon.org/):
The Wetland Systems SG is co-organiser of the workshop "Advanced processes for the
removal of micropollutants. Lessons learnt from full-scale plants and remaining issues".
The workshop is mainly organised by the SG Assessment and Control of Hazardous
Substances in Water and beside our SG also supported by the SGs on Sludge
Management, Water Reuse and Design, Operation and Costs of Large Wastewater
Treatment Plants.
The workshop is now scheduled for Tuesday, 25 September 2014, at 13:30 with
duration of 90 minutes.
• 14th IWA Specialized Group Conference on “Wetland Systems for Water Pollution
Control”, 12-16 October 2014, Shanghai, China (http://www.iwawetland2014.org/):
The planning for our next SG conference is on track. Updates on the conference are
reported later in this newsletter (from page 12 onwards).
4) Non-IWA events interesting for the wetland community:
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a non-IWA wetland event that might be
interesting for you:
• the 6th International Symposium on “Wetland Pollutant Dynamics and Control
(WETPOL 2015)” will be organised by Gabriela Dotro from 14-19 June 2015 in York,
UK (see http://www.wetpol.org/2015/).
Deadline for abstract submission is 1 December 2014

8
THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE WETLANDS SYSTEM SG
Constitution
IWA Specialist Group "Wetland Systems for Water
Pollution Control"
Version 2014
Name
The name of this Specialist Group (SG) is "Wetland Systems for Water Pollution
Control"
Objective(s)
The objective of the SG is to
o act as a link between scientists and engineers working on the scientific and
technical aspects of macrophyte usage in wetland systems (Constructed
Wetlands, Reed Beds, Treatment Wetlands and converted natural wetlands) for
water pollution control and resource recovery;
o contribute to co-ordinating research activities, defining research needs and
promoting exchange of results;
o establish standardised guidelines for reporting performance of macrophyte-
based wastewater treatment systems;
o promoting the global adoption of CWs for water pollution treatment and
especially in LAMICs (Low And Middle Income Countries)
Membership
Membership of the Specialist Group is open to all IWA members, either individually
or through their employer. All SG Officers and members of the Management
Committee (MC) must be members of IWA.
Activities
The Specialist Group will undertake the following activities:
o Organisation of the biennial IWA Specialised Conference
o Organisation of workshops and sessions at other IWA events
o Support organisation and/or co-organisation of conferences with SGs working
on related topics
o Prepare a newsletter of Group activities and developments
Management
The Officers of the Specialist Group will be comprised of:
o Chair
o Secretary

9
The Management Committee of the Specialist Group is comprised by the SG officers
and the "Regional Coordinators". The Regional Coordinators are elected by the SG
members of the respective region. The SG officers can select additional support
such as
o a Young Water professional (YWP) liaison manager
o a web 2.0 manager
as appropriate.
Elections
An election for the officers of the SG (Chair and Secretary) will be held every 4 years.
Officers of the SG cannot be re-elected in the following period.
Elections of Regional Coordinators also will be held every 4 years, however, in
between the elections for the SG officers. Regional Coordinators can be re-elected.
Elections will be held:
o By electronic vote prior to the SG conference in the respective year (the voting
is organised together with IWA HQ).
o The results of the elections will be announced during the MC and SG meeting
held at the SG conference.
Meetings of the Management Committee and Specialist Group
Meetings of the full Group, including the Management Committee will be held in
conjunction with the Group’s biennial conference.
The MC and SG meeting is open to all participants of the conference. However, only
members of the SG can vote.
Objective of the MC and SG meeting
o Inform the SG members on current developments within the SG.
o Announce results of election for SG officers or Regional Coordinators (if in the
respective years).
o Presentation of proposals for venue of next SG conference. The venue of the
next SG conference will be decided by electronic vote after the SG conference.
Voting procedure:
The voting procedure for electronic voting and at SG meetings is as follows:
o The vote is open for SG members only.
o Decisions shall be taken by a majority of the votes.
o In the case that there are more than 3 choices to be voted for and no choice
reaches more than 50 % there shall be a 2nd vote between the 2 choices that
received the most votes in the first round.
Finances
The Specialist Group will be self-financing.

10
CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE 15TH IWA INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON WETLAND SYSTEMS FOR WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL (ICWS2016)
Fabio Masi and Günter Langergraber
We kindly ask potential proposers for the 15th IWA International Conference on Wetland
Systems for Water Pollution Control (ICWS2016) to submit their proposals following the
points as described below.
As the 2012 conference was held in Perth, Western Australia, and the upcoming 2014
conference will be held in Shanghai, China, the SG officers strongly encourage submitting
proposal from Europe for 2016.
Procedure for submission of proposals for ICWS2016:
1. Submit your proposal for ICWS2016 following the template for proposals latest until
31 August 2014 (sharp deadline). The template is available on the SG WaterWiki site:
http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/download/WorkGroup_SG+on+The+Use+of
+Macrophytes+in+Water+Pollution+Control/IWASGWetlandsBiennialConferencePr
oposal/ProposalIWAWSWPCSGConferences.doc).
2. SG officers will review proposals and may ask for clarifications and/or modifications
if required.
3. Final proposal will be made available on the SG WaterWiki site
(http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/download/WorkGroup_SG+on+The+Use+of
+Macrophytes+in+Water+Pollution+Control/IWASGWetlandsBiennialConferencePr
oposal/).
4. Presentation and discussion of proposals at SG meeting during ICWS2014 (on
Monday, 13 October 2014).
5. Electronic voting on conference venue for ICWS2016.
6. Announcement of the results in the SG Newsletter No.45 in Nov./Dec.2014.
Please do not hesitate to contact us at masi@iridra.com and guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at
if you do have any questions.

11
CALL FOR CANDIDATES FOR REGIONAL COORDINATORS
ELECTION
Günter Langergraber and Fabio Masi
We kindly invite all members of the Wetland Systems SG that are interested to become a
candidate for a Regional Coordinator (RC) of our SG for the period 2015-2018. To become
candidate you have to submit a short CVs including a statement why you want to become RC
(a template for a CV is available at the SG WaterWiki site:
http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/download/WorkGroup_SG+on+The+Use+of+Macro
phytes+in+Water+Pollution+Control/RegionalCoordinators/RC%2Delection%2D2014short
%2DCVandstatementtemplate.docx).
A Regional Coordinator of the Wetland Systems SG has the following main tasks:
"coordinate" activities in the respective region, i.e.
- being contact points for SG members in the respective the region
- ask members in the region to contribute articles to the SG newsletters
being available as reviewer for wetland system related manuscripts for Water Sci
Technol (especially for the papers submitted to the ICWS conferences)
being available as members of the Programme Committee for the ICWS conference
series
The RC election is open for the following regions:
Region * # RC positions open
Africa 1
China 1
Asia (except China) 2
North America 1
The Middle East 1
Europe 5
* In 2014, we will have no elections of RCs for Latin America and Oceania. For both regions, we have carried
out the first RC elections in 2013 (also as test for the 2014 RC elections). For Latin America Dr Silvana Cutolo
was elected in 2013 and will continue for the upcoming period. For Oceania we have agreed with Dr Chris
Tanner that Dr John Bavor (who was elected as RC for Australia in 2013) will take over the RC position for
Oceania (i.e. Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea + Pacific Islands).
All current RCs are eligible candidates for the next period as well (except the SG officers).
However, current RCs also have to apply and submit a short CV and self-statement to
become candidate.
Please submit your applications as candidate for a RC position to
guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at latest until 31 August 2014.
The election of the RCs for the regions will be carried out and finalized in September 2014 so
that the new RCs can first meet during the Shanghai conference in October.

12
14th
IWA International Conference on
Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control (ICWS2014)
12-16 October, 2014, Shanghai, China
IWA International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control (ICWS2014)
is an international platform for environmental scientists and engineers, policy makers,
industrialists, entrepreneurs and research students who share a common interest in the use of
wetland systems for water pollution control.
The upcoming conference is broadly classified under nine themes namely:
i. Process dynamics,
ii. Treatment performance of wetlands for water pollution control,
iii. Design criteria and operation,
iv. Application,
v. Landscaping,
vi. Hybrid, floating, algal systems,
vii. Economics,
viii. Environmental issues and
ix. Constructed wetland components.
In total 238 abstracts (189 Oral and 49 Poster) have been received from 42 countries of all
over the world. Additionally, 11 renowned scientists will give keynote speeches during the
event.
The conference venue is finalized at Sino-French Centre of Tongji-University. Three rooms
will be prepared for the oral presentations. In addition, an open space at the base floor will
also manage for poster sessions as well as coffee corner.
A Young Water Professionals (YWP) workshop will be organized before the conference.
YWPs will enjoy the chance that successful professionals share their valuable experience and
communicate face to face with world class specialists.
Additionally, on 17+18 October 2014 a two-day post-conference course on modelling of
constructed wetlands will be organized.
Besides scientific sessions, technical tour and grand Banquet Cruise will be the other
interesting attractions of the conference. Notification regarding the acceptance and
submission of full manuscript as per Water Science and Technology guideline has already
been sent to the all authors. All authors are requested to submit their full manuscripts before
31 August 2014.
For detail information, registration and update about the conference please visit conference
website (http://www.iwawetland2014.org/index.asp). We look forward to meeting you in
Shanghai.

On behalf of the Scientific Committee of the International
Water Association (IWA) 14th
International Conference
on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control (ICWS),
I am delighted to welcome participants to attend the 14th
ICWS, Shanghai, China, 12-16 October 2014. It is
twenty years since the 4th
ICWS conference was held in
Guangzhou and it is appropriate, following the
considerable advances in the global use of wetland
systems that our biennial conference should return to
China. Historically, China has been both an innovator
and a leader in the use of natural, sustainable and
ecologically harmonious systems for water recycling and
agricultural production and the relatively recent
development of constructed wetland systems owes
much to this legacy.
On behalf of the Organising Committee of the
Conference and the College of Environmental Science
and Engineering, Tongji University, I warmly welcome
wetland scientists, researchers, engineers and policy
makers from all over the world in Shanghai. Shanghai is
the most modern city in China that offers the visitors
fascinating history, splendid architecture, modern public
transportation, access to the most recent technological
advances and the old-fashioned hospitality. Shanghai
will offer our distinguished guests sincere friendliness
and unique attractions. We are here to review the
advances in understanding wetland processes, to
exchange ideas and to discuss future challenges in
wetlands for water pollution control. I look forward to
meeting you all at the conference.
The Organisers
This conference is jointly organised by:
Welcome and Invitation
Prof Brian Shutes. PhD, M.A., M.Tech,
CBiol, FSB.
Emeritus Professor of Ecotechnology, Middlesex
University, London.
Vice-Chair, IWA Wetland Systems for Water
Pollution Control Specialist Group, 1996-2008
Prof Qi Zhou. PhD, M.A.
Professor of College of Environmental Science
and Engineering, Tongji Unversity, Shanghai
Chairman of Conference Organizing Committee
14th
IWA International Conference
Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
Conference Language
The official language of the conference will be English. There will be oral and poster presentations, with pre-printed
abstracts of conference papers.
There is increasing pressure to reduce the global demand for water and energy while providing low cost systems for
water pollution treatment and recycling. Constructed wetlands fulfil these requirements and provide flexible and
adaptable systems in a range of designed types and sizes for treating domestic, industrial, agricultural and mining
wastewater and urban storm water.
This 14th
ICWS conference will provide an international platform for the presentation of recent research and
developments and the exchange of ideas between environmental scientists and engineers, policy makers, industrialists,
entrepreneurs and research students who share a common interest in the use of wetland systems for water pollution
control.
The conference will also provide an opportunity to experience the warm welcome and excellent hospitality that is given
to visitors to China as well as the exciting environment of Shanghai, a global megacity.
College of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University
School of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering at Chongqing University.
The conference will take place in Sino-French Center on the campus of Tongji
University. Sino-French Center is a first-class conference center, which offers
a 600-seat conference hall, and three medium to small scale meeting rooms.
Conference Venue

Conference Themes
1. Process dynamics: Hydrology, Biochemistry, Kinetics, Plants and their futures, Substrate, Microbiology,
Biotechnology, Biodiversity benefits, Enhanced/active aeration
2. Treatment performance of wetlands for water pollution control: Organics, Nutrients, Suspended solids, Heavy
metals, Persistent/toxic organic pollutants, Micro-organic pollutants, Sludge dewatering/stabilization
3. Design criteria and operation: Hydraulics, Sizing criteria, Vegetation management, Modelling and optimisation,
Regulations, Pollutant loading
4. Application: Municipal wastewater, Industrial wastewater, Agricultural and animal wastewater, Landfill leachates,
Mine water, Stormwater, Combined sewer overflows, Effluents from secondary treatment, Water reuse, Eco-
sanitation, Onsite bioremediation, Non-point source control, Riparian buffer zones, Wetland restoration, New
application and possibilities, Lesson learned
5. Landscaping: Green roofs, Vertical farming, Sustainable urban and agricultural drainage, Recreational concepts for
wetlands, Functional landscaping
6. Hybrid, floating, algal systems
7. Economics: Investment costs, Operation and maintenance costs, Biomass production and benefits, Ancillary benefits
8. Environmental issues: Greenhouse gases, Life cycle assessment, Ecological value and biodiversity, Clean
development mechanism, Policies
9. CW components: New materials, Hydraulic devices, Innovative concepts, Plants, Maintenance tools
Key Dates
First announcement and call for abstracts
Deadline for abstract submission
Date for notifying successful authors
Deadline for full paper submission
Early registration before
Conference takes place
September 2013
15 March 2014
30 April 2014
31 August 2014
1 September 2014
12-16 October 2014
Registration fees
Programme Outline
Technical Tour
Line A: The Dongtan Wetland Park
A major wetland in the world by the “Convention on
Wetlands by United Nations”
Line B: Suzhu Creek Constructed Wetland
A very successful engineering CW for
remediation of polluted river water.
Line C: Changshu CW for Industrial wastewater
treatment
Time Sunday, 12 October Monday, 13 October
Tuesday,
14
October
Wednesday,
15 October
Thursday,
16 October
17-18
October
Morning
1.Registr
ation
2.Poster
set-up
1.Welcome, inaugural
session & Group photo
2.Keynote Session
1.Parallel
sessions
Technical
Tour
1.Parallel
sessions
2-day Post-
conference
workshop:
Course on
Modeling of
Constructed
Wetland
Afternoon
3.YWP
workshop
4.Welcome
reception
3.Parallel Sessions
4.Specialist group
meeting
2.Parallel
sessions
3.Banquet
Cruise
2.Keynote
session
3.Closing
ceremony

WWW.iwawetland2014.org
Dr. Bin XU
Secretary, ICWS2014 Organising Committee
College of Environmental Science and Engineering
Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092,China
Fax: +86 21 65983869
Mobile: +86 13916186347
Email: iwawetland2014@gmail.com
Dr. Tao Li
Director, IWA China Regional Office
Room C205, 18 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District
Beijing, 100085, China
Office: +86 10 62849589
Mobile: +86 13810031231
Email: tao.li@iwahq.org
Organising Committee
Qi Zhou, Tongji University (Chair)
Qiang He, Chongqing University (Co-chair)
Zhenbin Wu, Chinese Academy of Science (Co-chair)
Shuiping Cheng, Tongji University (Co-Chair)
Tao LI, IWA China Regional Office
Jun Zhai, Chongqing University
Zifu Li, University of Science and Technology Beijing
Yaqian Zhao, University College Dublin, Ireland
Baixing Yan, Chinese Academy of Science
Guodong Ji, Peking University
Yuansheng Pei, Beijing Normal University
Gabriela Dotro, Cranfield University, UK
Yue Wen, Tongji University
Bin Xu, Tongji University (Secretary)
Brian Shutes (UK, Chair)
Carlos Arias (Denmark)
John Bavor (Australia)
Maurizio Borin (Italy)
Jacques Brisson (Canada)
Hans Brix (Denmark)
Jie Chang (China)
Stewart Dallas (Australia)
Tjasa Griessler Bulc (Slovenia)
Margaret Greenway (Australia)
Hongying Hu (China)
Miklas Scholz (UK)
Poh-Eng Lim (Malaysia)
Scientific Committee
Programme Committee
Jun Zhai (China, Chair)
Fabio Masi (Italy)
Akintunde Babatunde (UK)
Florent Chazarenc (France)
Gabriela Dotro (UK)
Michal Green (Israel)
Tom Headley (Oman)
Suwasa Kantawanichkul (Thailand)
Jamidu H.Y. Katima (Tanzania)
Gunter Langergraber (Austria)
Heribert Rustige (Germany)
Otto R Stein (USA)
Chris Tanner (NZ)
Jan Vymazal (Czech Republic)
Silvana AudráCutolo (Brazil)
Full paper submission
Till to the end of April 2014, overall 239 abstracts (190 Oral and 49 Poster)
from 42 countries of all over the world have been accepted by the Scientific
Committee. Authors of both oral and poster presentations are recommended to
submit the full papers before 31 August 2014.
A poster competition will be held. The poster session winners will be
announced in the closing ceremony.
The manuscripts will be reviewed and selected papers will be recommended for
publication in Water Science and Technology (SCI journal).
Ranka Junge (Switzerland)
Robert Kadlec (USA)
Ülo Mander (Estonia)
Pascal Molle (France)
Jamie Nivala (Germany/USA)
Scott Wallace (USA)
Zhenbin Wu (China)
Xiaochang Wang (China)
Lei Yang (Chinese Taipei)
Qi Zhou (China)
Joan García (Spain)
Peter Kuschk (Germany)
Keynote Speakers
Brian Shutes (UK)
Fabio Masi (Italy)
Qi Zhou (China)
Hans Brix (Denmark)
Gunter Langergraber (Austria)
Linda Strande (Switzerland)
Jie Chang (China)
Jan Vymazal (Czech Republic)
Scott Wallace (USA)
Zhenbin Wu (China)
Karin Tonderski (Sweden)

17
VIRTUAL SPECIAL ISSUES OF WATER SCI TECHNOL FROM THE
VENICE 2010 AND PERTH 2012 CONFERENCES
by Günter Langergraber, Secretary of the SG
After the positive response on the "virtual special issue of Water Sci Technol from the Perth
2012 conference" presented in the last Newsletter, I decided also to prepare a "virtual special
issue of Water Sci Technol from the Venice 2010 conference". Additionally, the data for the
papers from Perth 2012 that were not published until fall 2013 have been updated in the table.
The 28 and 30 accepted papers from the Venice 2010 and Perth 2012 conference are
presented in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively. The blue font in Table 1 shows updated
information for the Perth 2012 special issue.
Table 1: Water Sci Technol - Virtual special issue ICWS2012 Perth
# Paper and Authors Issue Pages
1 Multı-stage constructed wetlands systems for municipal wastewater treatment
F. Masi, S. Caffaz and A. Ghrabi 67.7 1590–1598
2 Are constructed treatment wetlands sustainable sanitation solutions?
Guenter Langergraber 67.10 2133–2140
3 Experiences with pre-precipitation of phosphorus in a vertical flow
constructed wetland in Austria
Robert E. Lauschmann, Markus Lechner, Thomas Ertl and Guenter
Langergraber 67.10 2337–2341
4 Sustainable biodegradation of phenolic endocrine-disrupting chemicals by
Phragmites australis-rhizosphere bacteria association
T. Toyama, T. Ojima, Y. Tanaka, K. Mori and M. Morikawa 68.3 522–529
5 Management and treatment of landfill leachate by a system of constructed
wetlands and ponds in Singapore
C.H. Sim, B.S. Quek, R.B.E. Shutes and K.H. Goh 68.5 1114–1122
6 Tech-ia floating system introduced in urban wastewater treatment plants in
veneto region - Italy
Anna Mietto, Maurizio Borin, Michela Salvato, Paolo Ronco and Nicola
Tadiello 68.5 1144–1150
7 Reconstruction of a constructed wetland with horizontal subsurface flow after
18 year of operation
Tereza Tereza Hudcová, Jan Vymazal and Michal Kriška Dunajský 68.5 1195–1202
8 Treatment of domestic wastewater by a subsurface vertical flow constructed
wetland system planted with umbrella sedge and vetiver grass
Suwasa Kantawanichkul, Somsiri Sattayapanich and Frank van Dien 68.6 1345–1351
9 Effects of a saturated layer and of a recirculation on nitrogen treatment
performances of a single stage Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland (VFCW)
S. Prigent, J. Paing, Y. Andres and F. Chazarenc 68.7 1461–1467
10 Design and performance of hybrid wetland systems for high-content
wastewater treatment in the cold climate of Hokkaido, northern Japan
Kato, T. Inoue, H. Ietsugu, H. Sasaki, J. Harada, K. Kitagawa and P. K.
Sharma 68.7 1468–1476
11 Performance and behaviour of planted and unplanted units of a horizontal
subsurface flow constructed wetland system based on a four-year study
Jocilene Ferreira da Costa, André Cordeiro de Paoli, Martin Seidl and
Marcos von Sperling 68.7 1495–1502

18
Table 1: Water Sci Technol - Virtual special issue ICWS2012 Perth (cont'd)
12 Short-Term performance analysis of sludge- treatment reed beds
Renato Iannelli, Steen Nielsen, Eleonora Peruzzi, Francesca Piras, Martin
Støvring and Grazia Masciandaro 68.7 1520–1528
14 Performance of a single stage vertical flow constructed wetland system
treating raw sewage in Brazil
L.C.O. Lana, D.C. Moraes, M. von Sperling, M.L.N. Morato, G.R.
Vasconcellos, M.O. Paraense and T.P.A. Moreira 68.7 1599–1606
15 Empirical Regression Models for Estimating Nitrogen Removal in a
Stormwater Wetland during Dry and Wet days
Heidi B. Guerra, Kisoo Park and Youngchul Kim 68.7 1641–1649
16 Relationship between operational parameters and the survival of indicator
microorganisms in a stormwater wetland
Jing Cheng, Siping Niu and Youngchul Kim 68.7 1650–1656
17 Stormwater Nitrogen removal performance of a Floating Treatment Wetland
Karine E. Borne, Chris C. Tanner and Elizabeth A. Fassman-Beck 68.7 1657–1664
18 Organic matter stabilization in reed bed systems: Danish and Italian examples
Eleonora Peruzzi, Steen Nielsen, Cristina Macci, Serena Doni, Renato
Iannelli, Mario Chiarugi and Grazia Masciandaro 68.8 1888–1894
19 The Malabugilmah subsurface horizontal flow wetland system- Construction,
maintenance and performance
Lise M.W. Bolton and Keith G.E. Bolton 68.9 1920–1925
20 Improving the reliability of closed chamber methodologies for methane
emissions measurement in treatment wetlands
Clara Corbella and Jaume Puigagut 68.9 2097–2102
21 Physical–chemical characterization of sludge and granular materials from a
vertical flow constructed wetland for municipal wastewater treatment
B. Kim, M. Gautier, P. Michel and R. Gourdon 68.10 2097–2102
22 Performance characterisation of a constructed wetland
Isri R. Mangangka, Prasanna Egodawatta, Nathaniel Parker, Ted Gardner
and Ashantha Goonetilleke 68.10 2195–2201
23 Material selection for a constructed wetroof receiving pre-treated high
strength domestic wastewater
M. Zapater-Pereyra, F. van Dien, J. J. A. van Bruggen and P. N. L. Lens 68.10 2264–2270
24 Performance assessment of pilot horizontal sub-surface flow constructed
wetlands for removal of diesel from wastewater by Scirpus grossus
Israa Abdulwahab Al-Baldawi, Siti Rozaimah Sheikh Abdullah, Nurina Anuar,
Fatihah Suja and Mushrifah Idris 68.10 2271–2278
25 Temperature, plant species and residence time effects on nitrogen removal in
model treatment wetlands
C. R. Allen, O. R. Stein, P. B. Hook, M. D. Burr, A. E. Parker and E. C. Hafla 68.11 2337–2343
26 French vertical flow constructed wetlands: a need of a better understanding of
the role of the deposit layer
Pascal Molle 69.1 106–112
27 Stabilisation and mineralisation of sludge in reed bed systems after 10–20
years of operation
Steen Nielsen, Eleonora Peruzzi, Cristina Macci, Serena Doni and Grazia
Masciandaro 69.3 539–545
28 Fate of hydrocarbon pollutants in source and non-source control sustainable
drainage systems
Georgios Roinas, Cath Mant and John B. Williams 69.4 703–709

19
Table 2: Water Sci Technol - Virtual special issue ICWS2010 Venice
1 Sludge treatment reed bed facilities – organic load and operation problems
Steen Nielsen 63.5 942–948
2 Mechanical resistance properties of gravel used in subsurface flow constructed
wetlands: implications for clogging
Anna Pedescoll, Fabiana Passos, Elisenda Alba, Joan García and Jaume
Puigagut 63.9 1801–1807
3 A fuzzy quality index for the environmental assessment of a restored wetland
E. Giusti, S. Marsili-Libelli and S. Mattioli 63.9 2089–2095
4 Vegetated ditches for treatment of surface water with highly fluctuating water
regime
T. G. Bulc, A. K. Klemenci and J. Razinger 63.10 2353–2359
5 A promising approach of reject water treatment using a tidal flow constructed
wetland system employing alum sludge as main substrate
S. Ç. Ayaz, N. Findik, L. Akça, N. Erdogan and C. Ki nac 63.10 2360–2366
6 A promising approach of reject water treatment using a tidal flow constructed
wetland system employing alum sludge as main substrate
Y. Yang, Y. Q. Zhao, S. P. Wang, X. C. Guo, Y. X. Ren, L. Wang and X. C.
Wang 63.10 2367–2373
7 P distribution in different sediment fraction of a constructed wetland
G. A. Di Luca, M. M. Mufarrege, G. C. Sánchez, H. R. Hadad and M. A.
Maine 63.10 2374–2380
8 Enhancing the removal of arsenic, boron and heavy metals in subsurface flow
constructed wetlands using different supporting media
K. Lizama Allende, T. D. Fletcher and G. Sun 63.11 2612–2618
9 Integrated constructed wetlands: water management as a land-use issue,
implementing the ‘Ecosystem Approach’
R. Harrington, P. Carroll, S. Cook, C. Harrington, M. Scholz and R. J.
McInnes 63.12 2929–2937
10 Constructed wetland as a low cost and sustainable solution for wastewater
treatment adapted to rural settlements: the Chorfech wastewater treatment
pilot plant
Ahmed Ghrabi, Latifa Bousselmi, Fabio Masi and Martin Regelsberger 63.12 3006–3012
11 Effect of polyaluminium chloride on phosphorus removal in constructed
wetlands treated with swine wastewater
G. B. Reddy, Dean A. Forbes, P. G. Hunt and Johnsely S. Cyrus 63.12 2938–2943
12 Effect of diffusional mass transfer on the performance of horizontal
subsurface flow constructed wetlands in tropical climate conditions
K. N. Njau, L. Gastory, B. Eshton, J. H. Y. Katima, R. J. A. Minja, R.
Kimwaga and M. Shaaban 63.12 3039–3050
13 Numerical modelling: a tool for better constructed wetland design?
14 The role of SSVF and SSHF beds in concentrated wastewater treatment,
design recommendation
E. G. A. Forbes, R. H. Foy, M. V. Mulholland and J. L. Brettell 64.1 22–28
15 Diphasic transfer of oxygen in vertical flow filters: a modelling approach
A. Petitjean, A. Wanko, N. Forquet, R. Mosé, F. Lawniczak and A. Sadowski 64.1 109–116
16 Dewatering sludge originating in water treatment works in reed bed systems
S. Nielsen and D. J. Cooper 64.2 361–366
17 Kinetics of heterotrophic biomass and storage mechanism in wetland cores
measured by respirometry
A. R. C. Ortigara, P. Foladori and G. Andreottola 64.2 409–415
18 Floating treatment wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment
M. Gajewska and H. Obarska-Pempkowiak 64.2 431–439

20
Table 2: Water Sci Technol - Virtual special issue ICWS2010 Venice (cont'd)
19 Nitrogen removal and ammonia-oxidising bacteria in a vertical flow
constructed wetland treating inorganic wastewater
Sergio S. Domingos, Stewart Dallas, Lucy Skillman, Stephanie Felstead and
Goen Ho 64.3 587–594
20 Elimination and accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban
stormwater wet detention ponds
Darja Istenic, Carlos A. Arias, Víctor Matamoros, Jess Vollertsen and Hans
Brix 64.4 818–825
21 Total and hexavalent chromium removal in a subsurface horizontal flow (h-
SSF) constructed wetland operating as post-treatment of textile wastewater for
water reuse
D. Fibbi, S. Doumett, I. Colzi, E. Coppini, S. Pucci, C. Gonnelli, L. Lepri and
M. Del Bubba 64.4 826–831
22 Pollutant removal in a multi-stage municipal wastewater treatment system
comprised of constructed wetlands and a maturation pond, in a temperate
climate
A. Rivas, I. Barceló-Quintal and G. E. Moeller 64.4 980–987
23 Hydraulic behaviour and removal efficiencies of two H-SSF constructed
wetlands for wastewater reuse with different operational life
S. Barbagallo, G. L. Cirelli, A. Marzo, M. Milani and A. Toscano 64.5 1032–1039
24 Tracer studies and hydraulic behaviour of planted and un-planted vertical-flow
constructed wetlands
R. S. Cota, M. von Sperling and R. C. S. Penido 64.5 1056–1063
25 Comparison of nitrogen elimination rates of different constructed wetland
designs
Eriona Canga, Sara Dal Santo, Alexander Pressl, Maurizio Borin and
26 Long-term behaviour of a two-stage CW system regarding nitrogen removal
Guenter Langergraber, Alexander Pressl, Klaus Leroch, Roland Rohrhofer
and Raimund Haberl 64.5 1137–1141
27 Phytotreatment of sludges (Phragmites australis) for their reuse in the
environment
B. Ceccanti, V. Bianchi, R. Iannelli, E. Peruzzi and G. Masciandaro 64.6 1233–1238
28 Pollutant monitoring in sludge treatment wetlands
E. Peruzzi, G. Masciandaro, C. Macci, S. Doni and B. Ceccanti 64.7 1558–1565
29 Floating treatment wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment
J. L. Faulwetter, M. D. Burr, A. B. Cunningham, F. M. Stewart, A. K. Camper
and O. R. Stein 64.10 2089–2095
30 Influence of design, physico-chemical and environmental parameters on
pharmaceuticals and fragrances removal by constructed wetlands
M. Hijosa-Valsero, V. Matamoros, R. Sidrach-Cardona, A. Pedescoll, J.
Martín-Villacorta, J. García, J. M. Bayona and E. Bécares 64.11 2527–2534

21
1976: born in South Africa
1998: BSc Hons. in Geology
(University of Portsmouth)
2003: MSc. in Water &
Environmental Management
(University of Staffordshire)
2005-6: research assistant
(University of Staffordshire)
Since 2006: Research &
Development at ARM Group
Ltd, England. Secretary of
CWA (Constructed Wetland
Association)
INTERVIEWING CLODAGH MURPHY
by Frank van Dien
ECOFYT, The Netherlands
For those who expected an interview with Dr. Peter Kuschk (as was announced in the last
newsletter): due to his work commitments, we were not able to finish that interview in time.
So I took control of the situation and picked another interviewee myself. That gave me the
perfect possibility to do something about a trend we were in, a trend that amazed me, actually:
so far, when the final question was asked "Who will be next?" it referred to a male person and
usually an "eminence grise"... While we have so many interesting women in our midst! So: I
picked someone from another gender, from another age.
I do expect the interview with Dr. Kuschk to happen soon but for now; an Interview with
Clodagh Murphy from ARM Ltd.
Probably most people know you as one of the more
light-hearted people in the Constructed Wetland world.
Now, THAT is not really the best introduction ☺☺☺☺ but I
and many others know you as a fun character with a
Monty Python like sense of humour. Besides that, we
know you from your pretty good presentations at the
conferences - because you DO know how to be dead
serious about Treatment Wetland Data.
So maybe now it's time for even more people to find
out a little more about you. For starters, I wonder:
Where in your life did things definitely turn in the
direction that resulted in your role in world of
constructed wetlands?
Oh wow, Frank, there are so many great women in the
world of wetlands so I’m really honoured that you chose
me as your next victim to be interviewed, I hope your
readers are not too disappointed that I’m not Peter.
Women have been involved in the study of CW since the
beginning, Käthe Seidel was definitely the grandmother of
wetlands and it's great to be part of a bigger wetland
community, but we’re all scientists and engineers – gender
doesn't really prevent us from being curious and wanting
to look after our Pale Blue Dot.
(http://www.carlsaganvideos.com/pale-blue-dot/pale-blue-
dot) (Apologies for the occasional quote in this interview,
but some people can sum up things far more eloquently
than I ever could.)
It's quite flattering to be compared to Monty Python, I definitely have a daft side - I’m a
heady mix of science and comedy with a hint of nerdism, but there is a serious side to this
Murphy ☺

22
Where in my life did I turn in the direction of CW? I can tell you the exact moment. It was
2001, I’d spent the previous 2 years roaming around Australia and New Zealand and I didn’t
really know what direction I wanted to head in career-wise. On returning to the UK, I had
spent the summer with some inspirational people on a small island off the north-east coast of
Essex. Coming from a collective background of environmental protection, monitoring, and
recreation of Essex’s unique salt marshes, their advice was to get a Master's first, as this will
help get into this field of work, so I studied part-time for my MSc in Water and
Environmental Management and got introduced to CW via my dissertation which
investigated the various prevention mechanisms in place to reduce the impact that agriculture
had on the saltmarshes.
I hadn’t intentionally set out to work with CW, I’d moved to Staffordshire and I was
introduced to the work that ARM Ltd do through a friend. In 2006 I cheekily knocked on
their door to see what job opportunities they had and I have been working there ever since. I
don’t really have a job title as such, as I have quite a varied role including research and
development, Environment and Quality Manager, PR production, and web-fairy. I’m also the
secretary for the Constructed Wetland Association.
What has kept you working on wetland systems?
I love the fact that CW are multidisciplinary, there are so many processes going on inside a
wetland that it keeps you on your toes and you are constantly learning. I need to keep
learning, really don’t like the idea of stagnating! In the 8 years that I have been working with
CW, the technology has evolved quite substantially due to better understanding of the
removal processes and the implications of design on hydraulics and clogging. I’m incredibly
lucky to be working for a company that pushes boundaries and embraces the changes, but
more importantly, has its own treatment wetland playground for me to meddle with for
scientific purposes. The friendly wetland community plays a massive part in keeping me
working with wetlands, conferences invite and often encourage collaborations with groups of
people who study, operate and design wetlands – this is a massive privilege and one not to be
taken lightly. And it is something I really enjoy being a part of. Such collaborations have
moved the technology on in terms of application and design, and has ensured that commercial
organisations can design the most appropriate wetland configuration for full scale treatment
systems for both municipal and industrial effluents.
And can you tell me: what do you do, besides wetlands, what are your other interests?
I’m really into photography at the moment, and music, I love going to live gigs and concerts.
I have been known to divert my planned journey to the Perth conference via Sydney just to
see my favourite band, I guess you could call that dedication … or madness! Other than that,
I like to just be outside, enjoying what nature and the changing seasons have to offer, (cliché
alert!) … you should always take time to smell the flowers and listen to the birds.
I read this and can only think of: what band, Clodagh? What band made you cross a
continent on the other side of the world?
Coldplay! I saw them twice and got right to the front, when you are somewhat vertically
challenged, you need to be at the front to prevent tall people blocking your view.
The next question that comes up is: do you see 'our' wetlands (I don't really mean
natural wetlands like these salt marshes you mentioned) as an ultimate solution for
waste water teatment? And if so, in general or just occasional, like when no sewer
system is available? And if not: IS there an ultimate solution?
I don’t think they are an ‘ultimate solution’. We are a global village with incredibly diverse
cultural practices, access to sanitation and most importantly, access to water; we don’t all

23
have the luxury of flushing toilets. There are situations when CW are not the most
appropriate solution and they should never be considered as a one solution fits all
eventualities. I think more work needs to be done in situations where particular sanitation
practices pose challenges for the implementation of CW treatment and how to make them an
accessible solution for all budgets and material resources.
What, in your opinion, is the most promising application area for wetland systems?
The application of wetlands to treat municipal wastewaters is quite well studied. I feel the
most promising application is for the treatment of industrial effluents. We are developing a
greater understanding of these nutrient poor effluents, often contaminated with tricky
compounds and through the aid of pilot scale systems, designing hybrid wetland systems to
provide the optimal conditions for the required removal mechanism.
Is there, to your knowledge, a Treatment
Wetland that is an example for us all? Or just
one that you can bring to our attention, for some
specific reason?
Wow, tough question. There are so many to choose
from. I have to say that I’m immensely envious of
the Langenreichenbach research wetlands managed
by Jaime Nivala and her team at UFZ, offering direct
comparison of wetland technologies. What a
playground! We need more of those facilities across
the globe.
In terms of full scale systems, the wetland schemes
operated by the Coal Authority in the UK are quite
impressive, not just visually, but performance wise
too. These wetlands are used to treat groundwater
that collects in disused mines, in order to remove the
iron and other metals. There are numerous disused mines all over the globe, including
Australia and South Africa where this technology can be applied.
What is the most needed area of further research and study for treatment wetlands?
It's great when a wetland is performing well, however, wetlands that don’t perform well are
far more interesting to research, but seem to be rarely reported on. There is a definite bias in
published research which can be misleading when relying on that data to design wetlands. It’s
a challenge to find out what the trigger was that tipped a perfectly functioning wetland into
one that fails, it requires a bit of forensic investigation, but one that can only be properly
investigated if there is sufficient data – this is quite often the sticking point. Full scale
systems rarely have continuous monitoring, let alone data on flow, influent and effluent.
Further research is needed in crash testing wetlands, identifying what causes systems to fail.
I love the idea of testing wetlands to destruction but unfortunately, our clients are somewhat
reluctant to allow us to break their newly installed systems, and quite rightly so. One of the
best things about having your own wetland to play with, is you can test them to breaking
point. I’m all in favour of breaking stuff in the name of science but we must remember to
write it down, otherwise it's just messing about! Outside of crash testing wetlands, I’m quite
interested in how aerated systems cope with synthetic estrogenic compounds, but the lab
costs are a bit steep!
What does this world need most at
the moment?
For people to consider the impact their
actions have on society and the
environment. To quote Terri
Swearingen: “We are living on this
planet as if we have another to go to.”
What does the 'water cleanup
world' need most at the moment?
I have to agree with Joan on his
answer to this question. We definitely
need solutions that are accessible to
all, not cost prohibitive and not
dependent on complicated, energy
hungry technology.

24
So, you kind of combine MythBusters and Murphy's law in the Constructed wetland
business? That is your true role? ☺☺☺☺
Yeah, Murphy’s Law, it really ought to be written into all Risk Assessments; whatever can go
wrong, will go wrong! ☺ I see it as an unofficial spin off to the 2nd
Law of Thermodynamics,
the law that tells us any system tends towards disorder; it’s all about entropy…… set up an
experiment, with everything in order, walk away to let it run, and it all descends into chaos! I
believe the trick is to pre-empt the chaos and design it into your experiment, and if anyone’s
managed to do this, please share your secret!
How could we get to more cooperation in research? Would you have an answer to that?
Collaboration and sharing resources is key. People have different strengths, skills and
experiences and to coin a social media term: crowd-sourcing these skills is really essential.
The Global Wetland Technology group is a fine example where they play on one another's
strengths to deliver an appropriate solution. The gap between academia and the commercial
application is ever closing. Workshops, like the one that took place at UFZ last year have
really assisted this process by identifying what research businesses need to help design and
install systems to meet the client's needs and ultimately improve our environment.
And my last question is: who would you like to be interviewed next time?
Someone I admire greatly, who has encouraged me every step of the way; my good friend
Florent Chazarenc.

25
VERTICAL FILTER ECOTECHNOLOGY SYSTEM (V-ECOTECH-
FILTER): AN INNOVATIVE AND NOVEL ECOTECHNOLOGY FOR
THE NATURE-LIKE REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED
GROUNDWATER
Khaja Zillur Rahman, Peter Mosig, Jaime Nivalla, Manfred van Afferden
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Centre for Environmental
Biotechnology (UBZ), Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany. E-mail:
roland.mueller@ufz.de, manfred.afferden@ufz.de, Tel.: +49-341-235 1848
Groundwater contaminated with MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) and BTEX (benzene,
toluene, ethylbenzene, m-, o-, and p-xylene) represents unique remediation challenges at
many refinery sites due to their complex physico-chemical properties. The active ex-situ
remedial methods include air stripping and removal with granular activated carbon, vapor
extraction, advanced chemical oxidation and multiphase high-vacuum extraction (Davis and
Powers 2000; Deeb et al. 2003; Sutherland et al. 2004; Wilhelm et al. 2002). However, the
cost associated with the construction, maintenance and operation of these conventional
treatment technologies diminishes their feasibility.
For the remediation of contaminated groundwater, an innovative and energy efficient vertical
filter ecotechnology system (V-EcoTech-Filter) has been developed (van Afferden et al.
2011). It can be operated in an economic, reliable and robust mode over a long period of time.
The two-stage vertical-flow soil filter system, a roughing filter and a polishing filter,
developed by the UFZ performs very efficiently for the remediation of groundwater
contaminated with MTBE and BTEX. The concentrations of MTBE and benzene in the final
effluent meet the limits for re-infiltration given by the local water authority, allowing a re-
infiltration of the water into the non-contaminated aquifer. This system has already been
successfully implemented at a pilot-scale for the remediation of the Leuna mega site in
Germany (Fig. 1).
Fig.1: Pilot-scale plant at the Leuna mega site in Germany (photo: A. Künzelmann, UFZ)
In the first treatment stage, the vertical filter is filled with coarse material which allows the
possibility of applying higher hydraulic loads and prevents potential clogging due to
precipitation of iron and manganese within the filter bed. Within the second stage the water
passes through a fine-grained vertical filter with a longer hydraulic retention time for final
polishing. The contaminated groundwater is injected from the top of each filter through a
uniform distribution system of perforated PE pipes, which are laid horizontally under the
cover layer (Fig. 2).

26
Fig.2: Construction phase of the pilot-scale plant in Leuna, Germany (photos: P. Mosig, UFZ)
This specially designed system with passive aeration facilitates rapid biodegradation of
organic compounds, shows highly efficient treatment performance with very low levels of
emissions of volatile compounds, no precipitations of ions (Ca or Mn) and operates smoothly
in winter time even under outside temperatures as low as -20°C. Since the formation of lime
(Ca-precipitation) may lead to a very high operation and maintenance cost, this specially
designed system with minimal Ca-precipitation has a great advantage over the conventional
groundwater treatment plants.
This novel technology is the world’s first vertical filter system for MTBE and BTEX removal
from groundwater. It can also be applied to other organic contaminants in process water of oil
and gas industries. This technology can be licensed from the UFZ not only in Germany, but
also worldwide.
Recently, a total of eight full-scale treatment units have been constructed (Fig. 3) and are in
operation at the Leuna site to treat all the groundwater of that contaminated aquifer with a
volume of up to 600 m3 per day. The whole groundwater remediation plant at this site is
financed by the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt (Landesanstalt für
Altlastenfreistellung, Magdeburg). The construction and operation are carried out by the
company BAUER Umwelt GmbH, Germany, which has been assigned by MDVV, the state
owned company responsible for the remediation of the Leuna site.
Fig.3: Full-scale treatment plant in Leuna, Germany (photos: P. Mosig, UFZ)
The official inauguration ceremony will take place on June 5, 2014 at Leuna treatment site,
Germany.

27
References:
Davis, S., Powers, S., 2000. Alternative sorbents for removing MTBE from gasoline-
contaminated ground water. J. Environ. Eng. 126 (4), 354–360.
Deeb, R.A., Chu, K.H., Shih, T., Linder, S., Suffet, I., Kavanaugh, M.C., Alvarez-Cohen, L.,
2003. MTBE and other oxygenates: environmental sources, analysis, occurrence and
treatment. Environ. Eng. Sci. 20 (5), 433–444.
Sutherland, J., Adams, C., Kekobad, J., 2004. Treatment of MTBE by air stripping, carbon
adsorption, and advanced oxidation: Technical and economic comparison for five
groundwaters. Water Res. 38, 193–205.
van Afferden, M., Rahman, K.Z., Mosig, P., De Biase, C., Thullner, M., Oswald, S.E., Müller,
R.A., 2011. Remediation of groundwater contaminated with MTBE and benzene: The
potential of vertical-flow soil filter systems. Water Res. 45, 5063-5074.
Wilhelm, M., Adams, V., Curtis, J., 2002. Carbon adsorption and air-stripping removal of
MTBE from river water. J. Environ. Eng. 128 (9), 813–823.

28
EXCHANGE PROJECT BETWEEN BOKU AND GUT ON
MODELLING CONSTRUCTED WETLAND SYSTEMS FOR HIGH
STRENGTH WASTEWATER
Guenter Langergraber1
and Magdalena Gajewska2
1
Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control, University of Natural
Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU University), Muthgasse 18, A-1190
Vienna, Austria. Email: guenter.langergraber@boku.ac.at
2
Department of Water and Wastewater Technology of the Faculty of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology (Politechnika Gdanska),
Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland. Email: mgaj@pg.gda.pl
In May 2013 BOKU University and Gdansk University of Technology (GUT) started a 2 year
cooperation entitled "Development of a numerical model for an integrated sludge and
wastewater treatment wetland Modelling of nitrogen and organic matter fractions influence
on treatment of high strength wastewater in constructed wetland systems ". The cooperation
is granted within a bilateral programme which is funded by ÖAD (Austrian agency for
international mobility and cooperation in education, science and research) in Austria and
Department of Strategy in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland
The objective of the project is to understand the influence of the nitrogen and organic matter
fractions influence on treatment of high strength wastewater on the removal efficiencies of
constructed wetland systems. Numerical simulation will be used as main tool to investigate
the influence by using measured data from Polish full-scale systems for calibration and
validation. The main outcome of the project should be a proposal for a larger scale research
project in which these processes shall then be quantified and a model extension shall be
developed.
During the last meeting held from 18-20 March 2014 in Gdansk a training on the HYDRUS
Wetland module (Langergraber and Šimůnek, 2012) was organised. Besides students from
GUT also 3 colleagues from Lublin Life Science University participated in the training (see
Figure 1).
References:
Langergraber, G., Šimůnek, J. (2012): Reactive Transport Modeling of Subsurface Flow
Constructed Wetlands Using the HYDRUS Wetland Module. Vadoze Zone Journal 11(2)
Special Issue "Reactive Transport Modeling", doi:10.2136/vzj2011.0104.

29
Figure 1: Participants of the HYDRUS Wetland module training in Gdansk in March 2014 in front of
the GUT main building (from left to right): Krzysztof Józwiakowski (Lublin), Magdalena Gajewska
(GUT), Katarzyna Kołecka (GUT), Günter Langergraber (BOKU), Maciej Kowalski (GUT),
Alexander Pressl (BOKU), Kristian Pierzgalski (GUT), Magdalena Gizinska (Lublin) and Aneta
Pytka (Lublin).
Figure 2: Sampling the tastes of Gdansk.

30
NEWS FROM IWA
The IWA Water Wiki!
Invitation to Participate
www.iwawaterwiki.org
The WaterWiki is a website providing a place for the water community to interact, share
knowledge and disseminate information.
The WaterWiki is THE online resource for all areas of water, wastewater and environmental
science and management. We currently host over 1,200 open-access articles, case studies,
reports and presentations.
The Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control Specialist Group has its own
dedicated WaterWiki space!
Want to get involved? The IWA Specialist Group on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution
Control already has a dedicated private group space on the WaterWiki.
You will need to complete a short registration process in order to join the space. Register now
by clicking here.
This month on the WaterWiki
We are pleased to announce the launch of some exciting new WaterWiki features!
Events Extra:
Events Extra documents are now all tagged according to event. As with our articles, section,
simply click on the tag that interests you to filter out relevant content. You can now view
collections of presentations from 60 different IWA events including the 2012 World Water
Congress in Busan, the 2013 IWA Development Congress, Amsterdam International Water
Week and the 2013 Cities of the Future Conference in Istanbul.
The procedure for uploading presentations to Events Extra remains the same. All Events
Extra documents will be tagged after upload by the WaterWiki Community Manager.
Articles:
We have added a new automated ‘Related Articles’ feature to the WaterWiki
Articles section. This feature can be found at the top of the right-hand column in all
WaterWiki Articles and displays related WaterWiki articles that have been tagged with the
same subject tag. This feature is constantly updated when users navigate to new pages. Make
sure you tag your articles to ensure that they will appear in the ‘Related Articles’ box and
more users will be encouraged to read your content!

31
Group Spaces:
It is now possible to add a Group Document Index to your Group space. Group members can
use this feature to upload documents in a specified format using an online form, similar to the
way Events Extra documents are uploaded. The documents are then displayed within a
searchable index on the group homepage.
For more information and a demonstration on how to use this feature, click here. If you
would like to add this function to your WaterWiki Group Space, please contact the
Community Manager.
We want to hear from you!
We would love to hear your feedback on the new WaterWiki site functions. We would like
to invite all our users to share their thoughts on the new features and on using the WaterWiki
in general by filling in our 2014 WaterWiki User survey here. As a thank you for your input,
all users who fill in the survey will be placed into a draw to win one of 8 copies of Natural
Wastewater Treatment, 2nd Edition, co-published by IWA Publishing and CRC Press.
IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, 21-26 September 2014, Lisbon, Portugal
www.iwa2014lisbon.org
The International Water Association will gather under the same roof 5,000 world water
professionals from over 100 countries, in Lisbon, Portugal, from 21 to 26 September 2014.
The World Water Congress & Exhibition is the event of excellence for professional
networking and cross sector knowledge transference. In such a rapidly evolving field, no one
can afford to be left behind when it comes to the latest research and technological trends.
Water professionals, both researchers and corporate visitors will create new, inspiring
solutions to the World’s water related challenges.
With the rapid evolution of science and technology the water sector is expected to raise the
bar, using collective solutions that defend everyone’s right to safe drinking water and
sanitation provided by effective and sustainable services. In Lisbon, the frontiers of science
and practice will be explored, bringing to life leading edge, pragmatics and innovative
solutions for urban and basis wide water and sanitation challenges. The 2014 IWA World
Water Congress & Exhibition benefits from its host city, Lisbon. The city is the closest
European capital both to Africa and America and an inexpensive favourite with travellers
from the world over. Lisbon is ready to host the best international ideas and the most
dynamic global water professionals, who will be showcasing successful examples of
enterprising regional systems, national policy initiatives, balancing private and public sectors,
financial sustainability, and the regulation and benchmarking of water systems.
The diversified programme will include 400 platform presentations, 800 posters, workshops,
pre-congress training courses and workshop, as well as presentations from world leading
experts. Please note that there are also pre-Congress workshops and training courses. The
7000 m2
exhibition will display over 200 global companies and 15 country pavilions.
Join us in Lisbon, to help shaping our water future.

32
NEW FROM IWA PUBLISHING
Publications on Water Pollution Control
Arsenic in Groundwater: Poisoning and Risk Assessment
M. Manzurul Hassan, Peter J. Atkins
ISBN: 9781780400204
November 2014 • 304 pages • Hardback
IWA members price: £ 51.00 / US$ 91.80 / € 68.85
http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn9781780400204&type=category
The main focus of Arsenic in Groundwater: Poisoning and Risk Assessment is to explore the untold
stories of groundwater arsenic in view of its poisonous nature for human health, social implications,
exposure and risk assessment, worldwide concentrations with space-time dimension, micro level GIS
application in spatial arsenic concentration, policy response and mitigation options, and water right
and legal issues of safe drinking water. There are very few books on arsenic issues and almost all the
books are mainly based on geology, geochemistry and health issues. There is a gap in spatial, social
and legal issues of arsenic toxicity, and the lack of literature on GIS-based modeling for spatial risk of
arsenic contamination is a serious methodological limitation. Therefore, this book is a departure for
health geography with a social science and legal context.
-----
Arsenic Contamination in the World
An International Sourcebook
Susan Murcott
ISBN: 9781780400389 • October 2012 • 344 pages • Paperback
Arsenic Contamination in the World: an International Sourcebook provides a global compendium
of cited arsenic occurrences in the world as they affect public health. This book details arsenic
contamination by source, region and arsenic-affected country. Arsenic is identified in 105 countries

33
and territories, representing a larger database than any previous published work. Sources of arsenic
contamination are categorized as Anthropogenic, Geogenic, Volcanogenic, Coal, Mining and
Petroleum-related. National, regional and international maps locate the affected areas and
populations. A synthesis of critical country information includes an estimate of the exposed population
of 226 million people worldwide. This reference work is an indispensable tool for medical doctors,
public health workers, scientists, water experts, governments, industries, non-profit organizations and
communities in identifying site-specific arsenic contamination. An extensive bibliography of peer-
reviewed literature gives the reader important arsenic contamination locations as the first step towards
remediation. This Sourcebook is updatable via an on-line annex which provides up-to-date
information on new arsenic occurrences and developments. We invite readers to participate in
updating this database at:
http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/ExecutiveSummaryofArsenicContaminationintheW
orld
By synthesizing the known occurrences of arsenic world-wide, this reference book offers an essential
tool for understanding and addressing the global arsenic geological-public health interface.
-----
Chemistry of Ozone in Water and Wastewater Treatment
From Basic Principles to Applications
Clemens von Sonntag and Urs von Gunten
ISBN: 9781843393139 • September 2012 • 320 pages • Hardback
IWA Members price: £ 74.25 / US$ 133.65 / € 100.24
Student price: £ 59.00 / US$ 106.20 / € 79.65
Even though ozone has been applied for a long time for disinfection and oxidation in water treatment,
there is lack of critical information related to transformation of organic compounds. This has become
more important in recent years, because there is considerable concern about the formation of
potentially harmful degradation products as well as oxidation products from the reaction with the
matrix components. In recent years, a wealth of information on the products that are formed has
accumulated, and substantial progress in understanding mechanistic details of ozone reactions in
aqueous solution has been made. Based on the latter, this may allow us to predict the products of as
yet not studied systems and assist in evaluating toxic potentials in case certain classes are known to
show such effects. Keeping this in mind, Chemistry of Ozone in Water and Wastewater Treatment:
From Basic Principles to Applications discusses mechanistic details of ozone reactions as much
as they are known to date and applies them to the large body of studies on micropollutant degradation
(such as pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors) that is already available. Extensively quoting the
literature and updating the available compilation of ozone rate constants gives the reader a text at
hand on which his research can be based. Moreover, those that are responsible for planning or
operation of ozonation steps in drinking water and wastewater treatment plants will find salient
information in a compact form that otherwise is quite disperse.
-----

34
Handbook of Environmental Odour Management
Franz-Bernd Frechen, Jean-Michel Guillot, Richard M. Stuetz, Anton P.
van Harreveld
ISBN: 9781780400600
December 2014 • 450 pages • Paperback
Complaints due to odour annoyance have become a major issue for wastewater treatment plant,
waste management, landfill, intensive livestock and other industrial operators as the repeated release
of unpleasant odorous emissions can constitute a nuisance to a local population. Traditionally, odour
management has been maintained by the use of buffer distances between industry and receptors or
by the installation of odour abatement systems that both collect and disperse the emission or treat the
emission to acceptable level to limit receptor impact. With the expansion of suburbia and the
associated encroachment, residents and industry are coming into closer proximity than in the past.
This interaction is unpredictable, complex and difficult to address. Integrated odour impact
management approaches involving improved measurement and understanding of odorous emissions,
their impact on local receptors, treatment performance and integration in local community relations
programs are needed to meet the potential impact due to population growth and increasing global
urbanisation.
-----
Soil and Water Contamination
Second Edition
Marcel van der Perk
ISBN: 9781780404912 • Pre-order (Nov 2013) • 450 pages • Hardback
Soil and Water Contamination, 2nd Edition is the first textbook that treats soil and water pollution
issues from a geographical/spatial perspective at point, local, regional, and catchment scales. It links
up very well to recent environmental policy and legislation in the field of soil and water pollution, e.g.
European Water Framework Directive.
• Treats environmental pollution from 3 perspectives: pollutant, transport processes, and spatial
and temporal variability of occurrence, teaching the student how to assess the spatial

35
dispersal of pollutants in the environment, taking into account the properties of the pollutant,
environmental medium, and transport processes.
• Describes environmental behaviour of major contaminant groups, including nutrients, metals,
radionuclides, and organic pollutants, which makes it a valuable reference for quick
evaluation of the chemical behaviour of pollutants in the environment.
-----
Water Reclamation Technologies for Safe Managed Aquifer Recharge
Christian Kazner, Thomas Wintgens, Peter Dillon
ISBN: 9781843393443 • April 2012 • 460 pages • Paperback
Water Reclamation Technologies for Safe Managed Aquifer Recharge has been developed from
the RECLAIM WATER project supported by the European Commission under Thematic Priority
'Global Change and Ecosystems' of the Sixth Framework Programme. Its strategic objective is to
develop hazard mitigation technologies for water reclamation providing safe and cost effective routes
for managed aquifer recharge.
Different treatment applications in terms of behaviour of key microbial and chemical contaminants are
assessed. Engineered as well as natural treatment trains are investigated to provide guidance for
sustainable MAR schemes using alternative sources such as effluent and stormwater. The
technologies considered are also well suited to the needs of developing countries, which have a
growing need of supplementation of freshwater resources. A broad range of international full-scale
case studies enables insights into long-term system behaviour, operational aspects, and fate of a
comprehensive number of compounds and contaminants, especially organic micropollutants and bulk
organics.
-----

36
SELECTED RESEARCH REPORTS
Treatment Processes for Removal of Emerging Contaminants
INFR8SG09
Author(s): John T. Novak
Publication Date: 15 Nov 2012 • ISBN: 9781780404004
Pages: 60
Available as eBook only
http://www.iwapublishing.co.uk/template.cfm?name=isbn9781780404004
-------------------
Applicability Analysis of Existing Models for Site-Specific Water Quality Criteria to
Protect Designated Uses from Nutrient Impacts
LINK1T11
Author(s): WERF
Publication Date: 15 Oct 2013 • ISBN: 9781780405148
Available as eBook only
http://www.iwapublishing.co.uk/template.cfm?name=isbn9781780405148
-----------------
For more information on IWA Publishing products or to buy online visit www.iwapublishing.com
Or contact one of IWA Publishing's distributors:
UK, Europe and Rest of World:
Portland Customer Services
Commerce Way
Colchester
CO2 8HP, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1206 796 351
Fax: +44 (0)1206 799 331
Email: sales@portland-services.com
North America:
BookMasters, Inc.
P.O. Box 388
Ashland
OH 44805, USA
Tel: +1 800 247-6553 (+1 419 281-1802 from Canada)
Fax: +1 419 281-6883
Email: order@bookmasters.com

Iwa wetlands systems no 44 june 2014(1)

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (7)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Iwa wetlands systems no 44 june 2014(1)

Similar to Iwa wetlands systems no 44 june 2014(1) (20)

More from Samara RH

More from Samara RH (16)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Iwa wetlands systems no 44 june 2014(1)