Advances on the removal of emerging organic micropollutants with treatment wetlands: A mini-review

Abstract

Emerging pollutants continue to be at the center of attention of research related to environmental pollution. Initially, studies of these contaminants were fundamentally aimed at evaluating their presence and effects on ecosystems. Today, greater attention is devoted to their removal, specifically from natural and wastewater. Considering that in conventional treatment systems they are not removed with the necessary efficiency, increasing attention is currently paid to nature-based systems and, within them, to treatment wetlands (HT), also called artificial or constructed, which have proven to be effective for it. This research reviews recent studies aimed at achieving higher percentages of removal of emerging contaminants and, in particular, those most refractory to decontamination processes. This is achieved fundamentally in two ways: The intensification of the processes in the treatment wetlands or by the combination of these systems with other technologies. Examples of the first route are shown through the aeration of the systems and the use of specific materials in the support means, among others. With reference to the second, its combination with microbial fuel cells, bioreactors, photolysis processes, among other technologies, is mentioned.