A re-circulating horizontal flow constructed wetland for the treatment of synthetic azo dye at high concentrations.

A re-circulating horizontal flow constructed wetland (RHFCW) system was developed in a greenhouse. This system was operated with Typha domingensis to study the phytoremediation capacity of this macrophyte species in different developing stages for synthetic textile wastewater with the pollutant type, the amaranth (AM) azo dye. Experiments were applied with a fixed flow rate Q = 10 L/h corresponding to a theoretical residence time of 3 h. The synthetic feeding to the RHFCW container was re-circulated back until the required water quality was achieved. The performance of this pilot-scale system was compared to an unplanted RHFCW. The effect of the initial dye concentration was studied using four dye concentrations (10, 15, 20, and 25 mg/L). The following parameters pH, color, COD, BOD5, NO3-, NO2-, and NH4+ were monitored during treatment. The maximum efficiencies obtained for discoloration, COD, NO3-, and NH4+ were 92 ± 0.14%, 56 ± 1.12%, 92 ± 0.34%, and 97 ± 0.17% respectively. Experiences demonstrate a decrease of removal efficiencies of studied parameters with the increase of dye concentrations, leading to an increase of the duration of treatment. Changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT), ascorbic peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR)) and their relation to plant defense system against stress were studied. Enzymes were evaluated in leaves of T. domingensis during the remediation of the azo dye (amaranth). During treatment, an increase of enzymes activities was observed in accordance with the high removal efficiency.