Wastewater Management – Treatment Wetlands

Treatment wetlands for wastewater treatment are engineered systems designed to replicate the structure and the services often provided by wetlands in order to perform tertiary wastewater treatment, particularly phosphorus and waterborne pathogen removal, and nitrogen transformation and removal through a variety of physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms. Treatment wetlands (sometimes known as constructed wetlands) are often used to support traditional municipal and industrial wastewater treatment but can also be used for stormwater, aquaculture, and mine drainage. There are two types of treatment wetlands: free water surface (FWS) wetlands and subsurface flow (SSF) wetlands. FWS wetlands generally look like marshes and consist of multiple species of rooted emergent vegetation and standing water. FWS systems that utilize only submerged or floating vegetation are comparatively less common. Subsurface Flow Systems (SSF), on the other hand, maintain water flow below the surface.
Outcomes & Metrics
Outcomes for project types may be strongly or weakly linked, or if not labeled as such, not designated. Resilience-linked outcomes are marked with "R."
See all GEMS metrics, including full descriptions. Click on any metric below to jump directly to its details.
Strongly-linked outcomes:
Outcome
Project Metrics
Program Metrics
Outcome:
Cultural Values - Knowledge (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Cultural Values - Other (R)
Project Metrics:
Program Metrics:
Outcome:
Economic Activity - Recreation and Tourism (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Economic Activity - Restoration/Intervention (R)
Project Metrics:
Program Metrics:
Outcome:
Property Protection & Value - Property Value (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Water System Costs - Freshwater Cost
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Water System Costs - Wastewater Treatment Costs
Weakly-linked outcomes:
Outcome
Project Metrics
Program Metrics
Outcome:
Economic Activity - Local Business (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Human Health - Food Security for Communities (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Human Health - Mental Health & Psychological Well-Being (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Human Health - Mosquito-Borne Illness (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Human Health - Waterborne Disease (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Social Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (R)
Project Metrics:
Outcome:
Social Disruption - Due to Project or Flooding (R)
Project Metrics: