Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494 www.elsevier.

com/locate/chemosphere

Removal of heavy metals from a metaliferous water solution by Typha latifolia plants and sewage sludge compost
T. Manios
a

a,*

, E.I. Stentiford b, P. Millner

School of Agricultural Technology, Technological and Educational Institute of Crete, Technical University of Crete, Heraklion 71500, Crete, Greece b School of Civil Engineering, Leeds University, LS2 9JT Leeds, UK c School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Leeds University, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK Received 2 December 2002; received in revised form 16 April 2003; accepted 9 May 2003

Abstract Typha latifolia plants, commonly known as cattails, were grown in a mixture of mature sewage sludge compost, commercial compost and perlite (2:1:1 by volume). Four Groups (A, B, C and D) were irrigated (once every two weeks) with a solution containing dierent concentrations of Cu, Ni, and Zn, where in the fth (group M) tap water was used. At the end of the 10 weeks experimental period substrate and plants were dried, weighed and analysed for heavy metals. The amounts of all three metals removed from the irrigation solution, were substantial. In the roots and leaves/stems of T. latifolia the mean concentration of Zn reached values of 391.7 and 60.8 mg/kg of dry weight (d.w.), respectively. In the substrate of Group D all three metals recorded their highest mean concentrations of 1156.7 mg/kg d.w. for Cu, 296.7 mg/kg d.w. for Ni and 1231.7 mg/kg d.w. for Zn. Linear correlation analyses suggested that there was a linear relationship between the concentration of metals in the solutions and the concentration of metals in the substrates at the end of the experiment. The percentage removal of the metals in the substrate was large, reaching 100% for Cu and Zn in some groups and almost 96% for Ni in group D. The total amount of metals removed by the plants was considerably smaller than that of the substrate, due mainly to the small biomass development. A single factor ANOVA test (5% level) indicated that the build up in the concentration of metals in the roots and the leaves/stems was due to the use of metaliferous water solution and not from the metals pre-existing in the substrate. The contribution of the plants (both roots and leaves/stems) in the removing ability of the system was less than 1%. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Heavy metals; Wetlands; Wastewater; Sewage sludge; Compost; Typha latifolia

1. Introduction The use of constructed wetlands (reed beds) is a lowcost, low-technology method, often used for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. In wetlands, metals are removed from wastewater by plant uptake, chemical precipitation, ion exchange and adsorption onto clay,

Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-2810-379456; fax: +302810-318204. E-mail address: manios@steg.teiher.gr (T. Manios).

organic and inorganic compounds (Martin and Johnson, 1995). The use of dierent substrates in order to achieve heavy metals removal has been investigated in recent years. Karathanasis and Thompson (1993), used six materials, including peat moss with approximately 90% organic matter, as wetlands substrate. This increase in the content of organic mater in the substrate, was considered to be the main explanation for the high removal performances (reaching values of 100%), achieved by the wetlands treating simulated acid mine drainage wastewater (Karathanasis and Thompson, 1993). A similar link between organic matter and heavy metals removal was also

0045-6535/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00537-X

488

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494

reported by a number of other researchers (Eger, 1994; Mitchell and Karathanasis, 1995; Chu et al., 2000). The reasons why organic matter retains heavy metals are complicated. According to Eger (1994), who treated mine drainage water using wetlands with a substrate rich in organic matter (peat), the heavy metals were retained mainly due to exchange between the large number of hydrogen ions on the peats colloidal surface and the metal cations. This phenomenon is correlated with the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil. All the organic materials mentioned above (used in wetlands treating metaliferous wastewater) contained small amounts of metals before the trials. On the contrary sewage sludge compost is a waste derived material with increased concentrations of heavy metals. Consequently, its use in agriculture and horticulture is problematic with strict regulations determining both the amount and the method of application (EU Directive 86/278/EEC). The possible use of such material as a biolter removing heavy metals from wastewater could provide an important alternative application. Dierent plants have been used to achieve maximum heavy metals removal from metaliferous wastewater, in recent years. Mitchell and Karathanasis (1995) used bulrush plants (Scipus validus), Ye et al. (1997b) used Phragmites australis, while Mungur et al. (1997) studied the accumulation of heavy metals in the root systems of four dierent plants (P. australis, Typha latifolia, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Iris pseudacorus). The concentration of heavy metals in the plant tissue of cattails (Typha spp) is highly dependent on a number of parameters, like the solution pH, the original heavy metals concentration in both the solution and the substrate and the exposure time (Karathanasis and Thompson, 1993). Up to now all relevant studies aimed to determine the ability of the T. latifolia to remove metals from wastewater (Ye et al., 1997a). In all cases the results indicated that there is a considerable ability of the plants to do so. However the concentration of heavy metals in the substrates used in such experiments was small. The presence of metals in the substrate in conjunction with a metaliferous wastewater, and how that aects the removal ability of T. latifolia has not been studied. Therefore the objectives of this study were: (a) determining the potential use of sewage sludge compost in a wetlands substrate, treating wastewater containing heavy metals, and (b) determining the eect of such substrate, in the heavy metals absorbing ability of T. latifolia plants, which are often used in wetlands. The above two objectives will be tackled by evaluating: (i) the ability of the compost to remove metals, since due to previous adsorption of metal ions on the sur-

face of the compost particles (including colloidal particles) and/or metals already exchanged with hydrogen ions (or other cations) its ability to absorb metals might be reduced, (ii) the possible saturation limit of the substrate, considering the existing high concentration of metals in the sludge, and (iii) the amount of metals which could be retained by the plants tissue from the wastewater.

2. Materials and methods The main component of the substrate was mature sewage sludge compost. The compost was produced by Thames Water Plc using windrows. Sewage sludge was mixed with straw on a 1:1 by volume basis (v/v). The chemical characteristics of the sewage sludge and the produced compost are shown in Table 1. The nal material used in the pots was a mixture of this compost with commercial peat based compost (25% v/v) and perlite (25% v/v). The use of peat and perlite was considered as necessary in order to avoid any phytotoxic phenomena from the compost. It is well established that mixtures containing more than 50% v/v mature compost of any origin can produce some kind of phytotoxicity (Manios et al., in press). The pH of the mixture was 7.1 and the concentrations of Cu, Ni and Zn were 567 34.71, 47 6.82 and 745 21.50 mg/kg dry weight (d.w.), respectively ( standard deviation for three samples, measured with atomic absorption spectrophotometer, AAS). A large number of young and healthy T. latifolia plants (approximately 10 to 20 cm high) were gathered from a local lagoon. In each pot a single plant was introduced and was left in the substrate for six weeks to adjust. At the end of that period 30 plants were selected
Table 1 Typical characteristics of the sewage sludge and the produced compost (supplied by Thames Water Plc) Parameters Dry matter (% w.w.) Volatile solids (% d.w.) pH Total-P (% d.w.) Cu (mg/kg d.w.) Zn (mg/kg d.w.) Ni (mg/kg d.w.) Cd (mg/kg d.w.) Pb (mg/kg d.w.) Cr (mg/kg d.w.) Hg (mg/kg d.w.) As (mg/kg d.w.) Se (mg/kg d.w.) Sewage sludge 25.2 66.4 6.7 2.3 599 728 99 1.2 191 134 2.5 2.5 2.0 Compost 31 65 7.9 2.6 525 825 68 1.5 189 118 2.6 1.9 1.9

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494

489

for the experiment. The plants were separated into ve groups with six replicates (pots) in each. The selection was based in the height and the number of leaves of each plant in order to achieve uniformity among groups. Groups A, B, C and D were the groups, which would be watered with the heavy metals solution, and Group M which would be used as blank and watered with tap water. Table 2 shows the concentrations of metals used for the dierent groups. These concentrations are multiples of those found in domestic wastewater (Tchobanoglous and Burton, 1996) and are considerably higher than those found in other types of wastewater, for example, acid mine drainage (Eger, 1994). Such high concentrations would be sucient to reach the potential saturation limit of the substrates in the relatively short experimental period. PVC pots were used, in all ve groups, with an average diameter of 200 mm and a height of 200 mm, with a usable volume of 5.0 l. The PVC trays, inserted under each pot, were large enough to retain any water drained from the pot, enabling its reabsorption from the substrate. Each pot of each group was given 1 l of the groups solution every two weeks. The solution was added slowly to the surface of the soil taking care not to spill any on the leaves or outside the pot. In total ve waterings (week 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8) with the heavy metal solutions took place over a period of 10 weeks. This amount for Group M is zero since the concentration of metals in the tap water was below detectable levels. At the end of the 10th week the plants were carefully uprooted, washed thoroughly with water and soap, and then were rinsed twice with distilled water in order to

wash o any soil particles. After washing, roots and leaves/stem of each plant were separated, inserted in preweighed paper bags and dried (80 C for 72 h) in order to record their dry weight. The contents of each pot were emptied into large plastic containers and weighed. A representative sample from each pot was used to estimate moisture (dried at 105 C for 24 h) and calculate the dry weight of the substrate in each pot. For determining the heavy metals concentration in the roots and leaves/stem (separately) of the plants of each group, six samples were used, one gram (d.w.) of tissue in each sample. For the same analysis in the substrate, six samples (ve grams, d.w.) were used for each group (one from each pot). All samples were introduced into special digestion tubes (Buchi 430 Digestor) with concentrated (97%) nitric acid, 25 ml for the plant samples and 100 ml for the substrate samples. Based on relevant literature (Sposito et al., 1983), the digestion process included a 24 h period with the mixture at room temperature (left undisturbed), followed by a four hour digestion at a range of high temperatures. For the rst hour the temperature was 100 C, for the second hour 150 C and nally 200 C for two hours The remaining liquid, which most times was about one quarter of the original acids volume, was ltered using Whatman GF/C lters. De-ionised water was added until the new solution reached the volume of the acid originally used (25 ml and 100 ml for the plants and substrates samples, respectively). The samples were then analysed using an (AAS, Spectra AA-10). The mean concentration of the three metals from the six samples of each group are presented in Table 3, for the substrate,

Table 2 Concentration of heavy metals in each experimental groups solution and the solutions pH Cu (mg/l) [Cu(NO3 )2 5H2 O] Group Group Group Group Group M A B C D 10 20 40 80 Ni (mg/l) [Ni(NO3 )2 6H2 O] 5 10 20 40 Zn (mg/l) [Zn(NO3 )2 6H2 O] 10 20 40 80 pH 7.53 6.55 6.32 6.30 6.15

Table 3 Mean metals concentration (mg/kg d.w.) in the substrate of each group at the end of the experiment Group M A B C D Cu 480.00 46.55 588.33 46.34b 646.67 225.88c 828.33 34.84d 1156.67 46.55e
a

Ni 40.00 10.00 48.33 13.44a 76.67 21.34b 140.00 25.16c 296.67 26.87d
a

Zn 758.33 41.39a 762.50 37.39a 903.33 79.72b 1063.33 72.72b 1231.67 128.12c

Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation. The mean values followed by dierent superscripts within each column indicate that they were signicantly dierent at a probability level of 0.05 according to ANOVA test.

490

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494 Table 6 Correlation coecient r2 from the linear correlation between the amount of metals added in the four groups and the mean metals concentration in the substrate, the roots and leaves/ stems of the four groups Substrate Cu Ni Zn 0.907 0.884 0.998 Roots 0.896 0.979 0.999 Leaves/stems 0.869 0.860 0.700

Table 4 Mean metals concentration (mg/kg d.w.) in the roots of the plants of each group at the end of the experiment Group M A B C D Cu 40.00 14.14a 46.67 12.47b 45.00 9.58b 60.00 10.00c 93.33 12.47d Ni 30.00 8.16a 38.33 12.13ab 45.00 15.00b 51.67 10.67b 55.00 9.57b Zn 293.33 28.09a 300.00 20.00a 330.00 21.60b 361.67 36.25bc 391.67 19.51c

Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation. The mean values followed by dierent superscripts within each column indicate that they were signicantly dierent at a probability level of 0.05 according to ANOVA test.

Table 5 Mean metals concentration (mg/kg d.w.) in the leaves/stems of the plants of each group at the end of the experiment Group M A B C D Cu 9.17 3.44a 10.83 4.48ab 10.83 5.34ab 14.17 4.48b 15.00 7.64b Ni 17.50 6.92a 21.67 8.98ab 25.00 9.58ab 27.67 4.53b 27.50 3.82b Zn 34.18 15.38a 48.33 12.14ab 58.33 10.68b 55.83 8.38b 60.83 13.04b

Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation. The mean values followed by dierent superscripts within each column indicate that they were signicantly dierent at a probability level of 0.05 according to ANOVA test.

in Table 4, for the roots and in Table 5 for the leaves/ stems. Linear regression was used for evaluating the eect of the amount of metals in the watering solutions in the mean metals concentration in the substrate and the plants biomass. In order to evaluate statistically any signicant dierences among mean values, a single factor ANOVA test was used. In all tests the signicance level at which we evaluated critical values dierences was 5%.

3. Results and discussion As the experiment progressed, the amount of metals present in each pot increased in all groups, with the exception of the blank, which remained the same and equal to the original amount of metals pre-existing in the substrate. Respectively, and according to Tables 35, the mean concentration of Cu, Ni and Zn in the substrate, the roots and the leaves, at the end of the experiment, was larger in Groups A, B, C and D compared to Group M. For Groups C and D this dierence was signicant (5% level) according to a single factor ANOVA test, among all ve groups. For Groups A and B the dierence was signicant in most cases but not in all. Since

the use of dierent irrigation solutions was the only notable dierence among the groups, is safe to suggest that the dierentiation in the concentration of metals should be correlated with the watering pattern. In order to support this theory a linear regression test was used to correlate the amount of each metal in the irrigation solutions with the relevant concentration in the substrate, the roots and the leaves/stems, through the groups. The results indicated that there was a strong linear relationship among these variables (Table 6). Both sewage sludge compost and the peat based commercial compost contained organic matter. These two materials made up 75% of the substrates volume, which result in a high concentration of organic mater in the nal mixture. According to Stevenson (1994) and Eger (1994) organic matter causes higher CEC, more than any other soil component. This high CEC of the substrate is likely to be the main reason for the retention of such large amounts of heavy metals (Fig. 1), resulting in the increased concentrations presented in Table 3. This correlation between the presence of organic matter and the removal of metals has been supported by a large number of researchers (Karathanasis and Thompson, 1993; Eger, 1994; Mitchell and Karathanasis, 1995; Tam and Wong, 1999). The only external parameter which might decrease the ability of such rich in organic mater substrate, to retain heavy metals would be an acidic water solution, of a pH lower than 5.5 (Stevenson, 1994; Mitchell and Karathanasis, 1995). The pH of the solutions used in this experiment varied (Table 2) but in all cases remain above 6.0 and close to neutral, not aecting the process. Based in the above two statistical tests is safe to suggest that the metals accumulated in the rootsleaves origin mostly from the articial wastewater for three reasons: (a) the metals in the wastewater were in the easily absorbable by the plants chemical form of diluted inorganic salts, (b) the majority of the metals in the compost were retained by the colloids delaying their release in the water solution, and (c) the short duration of the experiment did not allow the plants adequate time in order to absorb metals from the substrate. The concentrations of metals in the roots and leaves, as presented in Tables 4 and 5, are some of the larger recorded in literature for cattail plants (Mungur et al., 1995; Ye et al., 1997a).

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494

491

Fig. 1. Comparison between the original and the nal mean amount of Cu, Ni and Zn in the substrate of each group. Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation. The mean values followed by dierent superscripts indicate that they were signicantly dierent at a probabililty level of 0.05 according to ANOVA test.

The results presented in Tables 35 and their statistical analyses (Table 6) do prove that there was a substantial increase in the metals concentration in the substrate, the roots and the leaves/stems of groups A, B, C and D. However, what is of equal interest, is the evaluation of the importance of this accumulation in the overall ability of the system (substrate and plants) to absorb and remove heavy metals from a metaliferous water solution. In order to estimate this, is necessary to calculate the amount of metals absorbed by the plants and the substrate and compare them with the total amount of metals added through the water solutions. By combining the substrates dry weight in each pot of each group, together with the heavy metals concentration before and after the experiment (Table 3) was possible to estimate the original and nal mean amount (mg/pot d.w.) of all three metals in the substrate of each group (Fig. 1). The values of r2 , from the linear correlation between the amount of Cu, Ni and Zn, added through the irrigation solution and the amount retained

in the substrates (Table 6), suggest a linear relationship between those two variables. This pattern, was also presented by Karathanasis and Thompson (1993), Eger (1994), Mitchell and Karathanasis (1995) and Chu et al. (2000). All the above researchers explained such results by suggesting that the substrates did not became saturated by the externally added metals. This conclusion is of great importance considering the original assumptions of this study. The existing concentration of metals in the substrate was high (due to the presence of sewage sludge), but this did not seemed to had any eect either in the ability of the substrate to absorb metals or reaching a possible saturation point. Possibly, the reason for not reaching saturation, was the short experimental period. However the large concentration of metals in the watering solutions (compared to any type of wastewater) suggests other wise. When comparing the net amount of metals absorbed by the substrate of each pot with the total amount of metals introduced in each pot is possible to estimate the

492

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494

Table 7 Absorbance percentage of heavy metals by the substrate Group A B C D Cu 32.96 2.79 58.99 5.87 97.01 9.47 112.8 9.07 Ni 5.05 0.43 44.24 4.40 69.20 6.75 95.59 7.68 Zn 29.29 2.47 118.05 11.75 118.67 11.58 93.4 7.51

Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation.

removal percentage. Table 7 presents mean removal percentage values of the substrate for each group for all three metals. There is close similarity with relevant research published by Mitchell and Karathanasis (1995) and Tam and Wong (1999). Cu, Ni and Zn showed high percentage of absorbance, which was increasing as the amount of these three metals increased in the watering solutions (from Group A to D). According to our original assumption, we considered the substrate unable to retain large amounts of externally added metals, due to the high original concentration of its components (Table 1). Based on that, it was expected to have the higher values of percentage absorbance in Group A, due to the small quantity of metals used in the watering solution. This proved to be wrong. Additionally Zn in Groups B and C, and Cu in Group D, showed percentages above 100%. This represents a mathematical statistical error due to the complicated experimental design and the materials used, which can be explained in a satisfactory manner. As watering was taking place the amount of metals added in the pots was becoming more and more substantial compared to the amount of metals existing in the substrate before the experiment. In Group A, due to the addition of smaller amount of metals the eect of the watering was not as substantial as in the other groups. For example, the mean amount of Cu at the end of the experimental period was in Group A 447.6 37.9 mg/ pot, where in the beginning was 431.09 36.5 mg/pot. The addition in this pot of 50 mg was not substantial enough to create a measurable eect in the percentage absorbance of the substrate in this group. Additionally the standard deviation values were almost equal to the amount added, creating a mathematical abnormality in the calculations of the absorbance percentage where mean values were used. Respectively the amount added in Group D for Cu (400 mg per pot) was large and al-

most equal to the mean amount of the metal existing in the pot in the beginning of the experiment (433.4 36.5 mg/pot) and substantially larger than the standard deviation. This large amount of Cu had a considerable eect in the substrate resulting to a mean amount at the end of the experiment equal to 885.6 37.9 mg/pot. Due to the high standard deviations in the original and nal amount of Cu in Group D it was possible to calculate a mean percentage removal above 100%. The physical meaning of this value represents the absorbance of the great majority of Cu and Zn into the substrate. Table 8 shows the mean dry weight of the roots and leaves/stems (g/plant) for Groups A, B, C, D and M. By combining these mean values with the mean heavy metals concentrations recorded in the roots (Table 4) and the leaves/stems (Table 5) of each group was possible to estimate the mean amount of metals absorbed by both types of tissue, in each group, at the end of the experimental period. However, these metals were absorbed from both the substrate and the irrigation solution. In order to estimate the net amount of metals absorbed entirely from the metaliferous water, the mean amount of metals, recorded in both tissues of Group M plants (calculated by combining Tables 4, 5 and 8), was deducted from the mean values of Groups A, B, C and D plants (also calculated by combining Tables 4, 5 and 8), respectively (Fig. 2). The r2 values from the linear correlation between the amount of Ni and Zn, added through the irrigation and the amount absorbed by the roots, did suggest a linear relation. As with the substrate, this could be regarded as an evidence, that the maximum absorbing ability of the roots was never reached (saturation level). The correlation between the concentration of the metals in leaves/ stems (Fig. 2) and the amount of metals added could not be easily characterised as linear for any of the three metals (Table 6). All three values are lower than 0.9 with the r2 value for Zn, as low as 0.7, indicating a possible saturation state. In simpler terms this means that the leaves/stems were unable to transfer and accumulate any additional metal cations, from the roots, regardless of the increasing metals build up in the roots (Table 4). This theory is furthermore supported by the high concentration values of Cu, Ni and Zn in the roots and the leaves/stems of the T. latifolia plants, some of the larger ever recorded (Mitchell and Karathanasis, 1995; Mungur et al., 1995; Ye et al., 1997a).

Table 8 Mean dry weight of roots and leaves/stems (g) per plant of each group A Leaves/stems Roots 1.65 1.35 4.44 1.29 B 1.68 1.29 3.83 2.61 C 2.49 1.29 2.78 1.60 D 1.69 0.87 4.13 1.93 M 1.08 0.64 1.94 0.92

Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation.

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494

493

Fig. 2. Net mean amount of metals removed by the roots and accumulated in the leaves/stems from the articial wastewater together with the removal percentages recorded by both plants tissues. Note: six replicates per group, () standard deviation.

It is dicult, though, to support undoubtedly, if these high concentrations could be related and in what extent with the metals either in the irrigation solution or the metals all ready existing in the substrate. According to Sims and Kline (1991) and Manios and Stentiford (1997), the available fraction of Cu, Ni and Zn, in sewage sludge compost is less than 510% of the total concentration. The metals added through the irrigation were all in water soluble form, and as such directly available to the plants. Considering all the above it could be suggested that the presence of large amounts of metals in the substrate did not had a signicant eect in the absorbing-accumulating ability of the plants. This is supported by the statistical tests used for evaluating the origin of the metals responsible for the increased concentration recorded in the roots and leaves/stems, and which are presented in the beginning of this section.

By comparing the net amount of metals absorbed by each plant of each group (mg/plant d.w.) with the amount of metals introduced in each pot is possible to calculate the mean absorbance percentage achieved by the plants tissue of each group. Fig. 2 shows the absorbance percentage of metals from the watering solution by, the plants. Most percentages were less than 1% for the roots whereas in the leaves/stems were less than 0.1%. These values are in agreement with similar work of Karathanasis and Thompson (1993), Mitchell and Karathanasis (1995), Ye et al. (1997a,b) and Scholes et al. (1998). Based in these values the ability of the plants to remove metals from metaliferous water was considerably smaller than that of the substrate. It could be argued though that these values do not indicate the real potential ability of the plants since they were calculated using a single plants dry weight per pot. In full scale

494

T. Manios et al. / Chemosphere 53 (2003) 487494 residues. In: Orbit 97, International Conference in Organic Recovery and Biological Treatment, 35 September 1997, Harrogate, UK, Conference Proceeding, pp. 227234. Manios, T., Laux, D., Manios, V., Stentiford, E.I. Cattail plants biomass as a bulking agent in sewage sludge composting and the eect of the produced compost on young cattail plants growth. Compost Science and Utilization, in press. Martin, C.D., Johnson, K.D., 1995. The use of extended aeration and in-series surface ow wetlands for landll leachate treatment. Water Science and Utilization 32, 119 128. Mitchell, L.K., Karathanasis, A.D., 1995. Treatment of metalchloride-enriched wastewater by simulated constructed wetlands. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 17, 119126. Mungur, A.S., Shutes, B.E., Revitt, D.M., House, M.A., 1995. An assessment of metal from highway runo by natural wetland. Water Science and Technology 32, 169175. Mungur, A.S., Shutes, B.E., Revitt, D.M., House, M.A., 1997. An assessment of metal removal by a laboratory scale wetland. Water Science and Technology 35, 125133. Scholes, L., Shutes, R.B.E., Revitt, D.M., Forshaw, M., Purchase, D., 1998. The treatment of metals in urban runo by constructed wetlands. Science of the Total Environment 214, 211219. Sims, J.T., Kline, J.S., 1991. Chemical fractionation and plant uptake of heavy metals in soils amended with co-composted sewage sludge. Journal of Environmental Quality 20, 387 395. Sposito, G., LeVesque, C.S., LeClaire, J.P., Chang, A.C., 1983. Trace metal chemistry in arid-zone eld soils amended with sewage sludge: III. Eect of time on the extraction of trace metals. Soil Science Society of America Journal 47, 898902. Stevenson, F.J., 1994. Humus chemistry: Genesis, Composition, Reactions. John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA. Tam, N.F.Y., Wong, Y.S., 1999. Mangrove soils in removing pollutants from municipal wastewater of dierent salinities. Journal of Environmental Quality 28, 556564. Tchobanoglous, G., Burton, F., 1996. Wastewater engineering: Treatment, Disposal and Reuse. McGraw-Hill, San Francisco, USA. Ye, Z.H., Cheung, K.C., Wong, M.H., 1997a. Copper uptake in Typha latifolia plants as aected by iron and manganese plaque in the root surface. Canadian Journal of Botany 80, 363370. Ye, Z.H., Baker, A.J.M., Wong, M.H., Willis, A.J., 1997b. Zinc, lead and cadmium tolerance, uptake and accumulation by common reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel. Annals of Botany 82, 8387.

wetlands the number of plants is considerably larger, as larger is their total biomass produced per area unit.

4. Conclusions The presence of organic mater in the substrate, through the use of both sewage sludge and peat resulted in a mixture with high CEC. This high CEC was mainly responsible for removing by the substrate, large amounts of heavy metals from the metaliferous water solution which was used for the irrigation of T. latifolia. The percentage removal for Cu, Ni and Zn reached very high values. However, these percentages varied, depending on the metal and the concentration in the watering solution. The results suggest that the substrate never reached a saturation point, where no additional amount of metals could be removed. In summary, sewage sludge compost could be an important component of a substrate in a subsurface ow wetland, designed to remove heavy metals from wastewater. The use of compost did not seem to eect substantially the heavy metal absorbing ability of T. latifolia. For the leaves/ stems a saturation point was probably reached, due to the high metal concentration in the watering solution, but the roots removed considerably larger amounts of metals, without reaching a saturation state. It could be suggested that if a wetland is suciently vegetated by metal absorbing plants like T. latifolia, even though harvesting will not occur, the overall treating ability of the system should be increased.

References
Chu, H.Y., Tam, N.F.Y., Lam, S.K.S., Wong, Y.S., 2000. Retention of pollutants by Mangrove soil and the eect of pollutants on Kandelia candel. Environmental Technology 21, 755764. Eger, P., 1994. Wetland treatment for trace metal removal from mine drainage: the importance of aerobic and anaerobic processes. Water Science and Technology 29, 249256. Karathanasis, A.D., Thompson, Y.L., 1993. Substrate eects on metal retention and speciation in simulated acid mine wetlands. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination Toxicology 51, 421429. Manios, T., Stentiford, E.I., 1997. Heavy metals fractionation before after and during composting of urban organic