Leachates from Helophyte Leaf-Litter Enhance Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents.

Bioengineering techniques are currently used  in a wide variety of wastewater treatment systems. Aquatic plants (i.e., helophytes) used in these techniques reduce excess nitrogen (N) from water column via assimilation. Moreover, leachates from plant leaf-litter can serve as an additional source of labile dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can promote aerobic respiration and N removal via denitrification. We tested the influence of leaf-litter leachates from  Iris pseudacorus and Phragmites australis on the structure and activity of freshwater biofilms grown in flumes fed by effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The responses of the epilithic biofilm to the inputs of leaf-litter leachates were compared to those measured using a brewery byproduct rich in sugars and to the WWTP effluent water (i.e., control). All DOM sources significantly enhanced aerobic respiration and denitrification of the biofilm when compared to the controls, with increases in total microbial abundance but not in denitrifier abundance. The results suggest that metabolic activity of biofilms may be limited by bioavailability of DOM in WWTP effluent; and leaf-litter leachates of helophytes used in bioengineering techniques could alleviate this limitation by enhancing microbial N and C uptake.

Enhancement of carbon and nitrogen removal by helophytes along subsurface water flowpaths receiving treated wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are sources of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to receiving streams, which can eventually become saturated by excess of DIN. Aquatic plants (i.e., helophytes) can modify subsurface water flowpaths as well as assimilate nutrients and enhance microbial activity in the rhizosphere, yet their ability to increase DIN transformation and removal in WWTP-influenced streams is poorly understood. We examined the influence of helophytes on DIN removal along subsurface water flowpaths and how this was associated with DOC removal and labile C availability. To do so, we used a set of 12 flow-through flumes fed with water from a WWTP effluent. The flumes contained solely sediments or sediments with helophytes. Presence of helophytes in the flumes enhanced both DIN and DOC removal. Experimental addition of a labile C source into the flumes resulted in a high removal of the added C within the first meter of the flumes. Yet, no concomitant increases in DIN removal were observed. Moreover, results from laboratory assays showed significant increases in the potential denitrifying enzyme activity of sediment biofilms from the flumes when labile C was added; suggesting denitrification was limited by C quality. Together these results suggest that lack of DIN removal response to the labile C addition in flumes was likely because potential increases in denitrification by biofilms from sediments were counterbalanced by high rates of mineralization of dissolved organic matter. Our results highlight that helophytes can enhance DIN removal in streams receiving inputs from WWTP effluents; and thus, they can become a relevant bioremediation tool in WWTP-influenced streams. However, results also suggest that the quality of DOC from the WWTP effluent can influence the N removal capacity of these systems.