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Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges
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Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 2279

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Amir Gholipour

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
Interests: nature-based solutions; constructed wetlands; sludge treatment reed beds; wastewater engineering; PFAS and micropollutant removal; circular economy; sustainable water management; environmental biotechnology; earthworm applications in wastewater treatment; water reuse and resource recovery
Dr. Rita Fragoso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LEAF—Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment; constructed wetlands and phytoremediation; anaerobic digestion and co-digestion; biomethane and biohydrogen production; agro-food waste valorization; circular bioeconomy and resource recovery; struvite precipitation and phosphorus recovery; water–energy–food nexus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Constructed wetlands are increasingly recognized as effective nature-based solutions for sustainable wastewater treatment, sludge management, and water reuse. With the advantages of low energy demand, resilience, and multifunctionality, they contribute significantly to pollutant removal, nutrient recovery, resource valorization, and decentralized water management. However, rapid urbanization, climate change, and the emergence of contaminants such as PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and other micropollutants present new challenges that require innovative, integrated approaches.

This Special Issue, ‘Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges’, aims to showcase the latest research and technological developments in this field. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovations in wetland design, operation, and modeling.
  • Mechanisms of contaminant transformation, biodegradation, and removal.
  • Sludge management, reed bed systems, and worm-assisted sludge treatment.
  • Treatment of micropollutants, PFAS, and nutrients.
  • Resource recovery through struvite precipitation, phosphorus recycling, and agro-food waste valorization.
  • Integration of wetlands into circular economy and water–energy–food nexus frameworks.
  • Field- and pilot-scale applications across diverse climates and regions.
  • Microbial processes, plant–microbe interactions, and molecular ecology.
  • Hybrid treatment systems and advanced monitoring for long-term performance.

This Special Issue seeks to provide a multidisciplinary platform to advance our understanding and aid future applications of constructed wetlands for effective, resilient, and sustainable wastewater management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Amir Gholipour
Dr. Rita Fragoso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • constructed wetlands
  • wastewater treatment
  • nature-based solutions
  • sludge management
  • worm-assisted sludge treatment
  • micropollutants
  • biodegradation
  • PFAS removal
  • nutrient removal
  • struvite precipitation
  • phosphorus recovery
  • agro-food waste valorization
  • anaerobic digestion and co-digestion
  • biomethane production
  • circular economy
  • hybrid treatment systems
  • water reuse
  • environmental biotechnology
  • environmental engineering
  • wetland modeling
  • molecular ecology
  • microbial communities
  • plant-microbe interactions
  • urban water management
  • climate resilience
  • water–energy–food nexus

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3293 KB  
Article
From Wastewater Reuse to Natural Wetland Degradation Under Regulatory Mirage
by Amir Gholipour
Water 2026, 18(7), 878; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18070878 - 6 Apr 2026
Viewed by 325
Abstract
Water scarcity compels wastewater reuse, but lax discharge standards generate a regulatory mirage, misleading the public about safety. Here, “regulatory mirage” refers to situations where formal compliance with discharge standards creates a false perception of safety while ecological risks and degradation persist. Despite [...] Read more.
Water scarcity compels wastewater reuse, but lax discharge standards generate a regulatory mirage, misleading the public about safety. Here, “regulatory mirage” refers to situations where formal compliance with discharge standards creates a false perception of safety while ecological risks and degradation persist. Despite formal compliance, treated effluent severely harms Iran’s effluent-dependent Kashaf River, driving eutrophication, salinization, and the downstream transport of unregulated contaminants of emerging concern, including fluorinated substances (PFAS) and pharmaceuticals. These pressures extend beyond the river channel to adjacent natural wetlands, which act as de facto nature-based treatment systems yet are progressively transformed into sacrificial sinks for excess nutrients, salts, heavy metals, and micropollutants. By benchmarking the Iranian Wastewater Discharge Standards (IWDS) against international guidelines (WHO, EU, FAO), this study quantifies a “Permissibility Gap” frequently greater than 10 for key parameters such as BOD5, nutrients, and trace metals, revealing how concentration-based limits ignore cumulative mass load and mixture toxicity at the basin scale. The Kashaf River case demonstrates that current end-of-pipe regulation undermines both natural wetlands and planned nature-based solutions, including constructed wetlands, in arid regions where effluent reuse is unavoidable. The study argues that aligning discharge standards with global benchmarks, adopting mass-based permits, and explicitly regulating contaminants of emerging concern are prerequisites for truly safe wastewater reuse and for protecting wetland ecosystems in effluent-dependent basins. This study shows that permissive, concentration-based discharge standards in effluent-dependent basins create a regulatory mirage that accelerates river and wetland degradation, and that stricter, mass-based limits are essential for safe wastewater reuse. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges)
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20 pages, 4389 KB  
Article
Performance of a Rain-Garden-Based Constructed Wetland for Decentralized Graywater Treatment
by Nisreen Obeidat, Ahmed Al-Salaymeh, Ahmad Abu Awwad, Riccardo Bresciani, Ali Shehadeh, Jomanah AlBtoosh, Anacleto Rizzo, Chiara Sarti and Fabio Masi
Water 2026, 18(4), 514; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18040514 - 20 Feb 2026
Viewed by 716
Abstract
Decentralized graywater treatment using nature-based systems represents a sustainable, low-energy alternative to centralized wastewater technologies, particularly in water-scarce regions. This study evaluates the performance of a rain-garden-based constructed wetland implemented at Zain Park in Jerash, Jordan, for on-site graywater treatment and potential non-potable [...] Read more.
Decentralized graywater treatment using nature-based systems represents a sustainable, low-energy alternative to centralized wastewater technologies, particularly in water-scarce regions. This study evaluates the performance of a rain-garden-based constructed wetland implemented at Zain Park in Jerash, Jordan, for on-site graywater treatment and potential non-potable reuse. The system consists of two filtration beds with multi-layer gravel–sand media planted with ornamental vegetation to promote physical filtration, adsorption, and biologically mediated transformations. Influent and effluent samples were monitored monthly from April 2024 to January 2025 and analyzed for biodegradable and oxidizable organic fractions (BOD5 and COD), nutrients (TN, PO43−), suspended solids, turbidity, salinity indicators, and microbial parameters (E. coli and total coliform). Average removal efficiencies reached 98% for BOD and 96% for COD, while turbidity and TSS were reduced by more than 96%, indicating effective organic degradation and particulate retention. Nutrient removal was moderate, with 40% reduction in Total Nitrogen and 74% in nitrate, reflecting partial nitrification–denitrification and plant uptake. Microbial removal was variable, with an average reduction of 0.8 log10 (64.7%) for E. coli and 1.1 log10 (82.6%) for total coliforms, indicating that passive filtration alone may not ensure complete pathogen attenuation. Post-treatment disinfection and substrate enhancements (aeration and plant selection) can strengthen system efficiency and support sustainable graywater reuse in water-stressed regions, contributing directly to SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). These findings support the applicability of compact constructed wetland systems as decentralized wastewater treatment solutions in arid and semi-arid urban environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges)
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20 pages, 2182 KB  
Article
Reducing the Required Area of Vertical-Flow Constructed Wetlands for Urban Wastewater Treatment Through Substrate Integration and Low Doses of Effective Microorganisms
by Snezana Didanovic and Danijel Vrhovsek
Water 2026, 18(4), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/w18040506 - 19 Feb 2026
Viewed by 583
Abstract
This study evaluates the efficiency of several urban wastewater treatment configurations in reducing suspended solids (TSSs) and organic pollutants (BOD5 and COD) under Montenegrin conditions. The systems tested include combinations of primary treatment and vertical-flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) in three different configurations [...] Read more.
This study evaluates the efficiency of several urban wastewater treatment configurations in reducing suspended solids (TSSs) and organic pollutants (BOD5 and COD) under Montenegrin conditions. The systems tested include combinations of primary treatment and vertical-flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) in three different configurations (VFCW1–VFCW3), with and without the addition of low doses of effective microorganisms (EMs). The results show that the inclusion of EMs significantly improves pollutant removal efficiency and system stability. Suspended solid removal reached over 90%, while organic matter removal was also high. Among the evaluated systems, those integrating microorganisms and optimized substrates required the smallest land area to achieve high treatment performance, with some configurations reducing land demand by over 70% compared to traditional systems. Under Montenegrin climatic conditions, the smallest required wetland area to achieve 95% BOD5 removal was only 1.07 m2/PE in the PT-EM-VFCW3 system (primary treatment + effective microorganisms + vertical-flow constructed wetland configuration 3), which is comparable to or even more favorable than the best values reported in the literature. These findings suggest that enhanced wetland systems offer a sustainable and space-efficient solution for municipal wastewater treatment in areas with land constraints, such as Montenegro. Beyond treatment performance, the results highlight land-use reduction as the dominant economic benefit of the proposed configurations, while the integration of effective microorganisms provides additional operational flexibility under seasonal and variable loading conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: Recent Advances and Future Challenges)
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