Friday, March 23, 2012

Floating Treatment Systems for Ponds/ Lakes/ Treatment Cells

The BioHaven FTW system provides a Concentrated Wetland Effect by utilizing a buoyant matrix mat (made from recycled plastic) and natural vegetation to mimic what occurs naturally in healthy wetlands around the world. In addition to BOD* and TSS* removal, FTWs can also significantly reduce nitrate, ammonium and phosphate in a waterway. Plants growing hydroponically through the mat utilize these nutrients, and treatment is additionally provided by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria colonizing on the expansive submerged surface area of the floating matrix and among the roots and rhizomes of the plants. The
nutrient reduction provided by BioHaven FTWs makes this technology ideally suited for wastewater treatment in a wide range of situations, including those where advanced regulatory discharge permit limits must be met.

The benefit of providing nutrient removal in a wastewater treatment system is decelerated eutrophication, reduced oxygen-taxing nitrification, and reduced growth of nuisance aquatic plants in downstream waters.  BioHaven FTWs are extremely cost-effective when it comes to maintenance and operations. Since the root mass of the FTW vegetation remains fully exposed to the water, they have the advantage of being unaffected by fluctuating water levels that can submerse and adversely stress sediment-rooted vegetation of a conventional constructed wetland. This advantage allows BioHaven FTWs to be built at a fraction of the size of constructed wetlands (since a hydraulic buffer is not needed) while allowing similar treatment efficacy to occur.

Applications

Because the BioHaven FTW system is modular and scalable, it can be designed to service wastewater systems ranging from 300 gallon per day (gpd) single-family on site systems to multi-million gpd municipal or industrial treatment systems.

Types of water treatment applications for Biohaven FTWs include:
• treatment of domestic, commercial and industrial waste streams
• waste streams from agricultural and animal feeding operations
• any pond or waterway setting that would benefit from BOD, TSS, or nutrient removal.

The Floting Wetland System

A FTW consists of emergent wetland vegetation growing on a mat or structure floating on the surface of a body of water. The plant stems remain above the water level, while their roots grow down through the buoyant structure and into the water column. In this way, the plants grow in a hydroponic manner, taking their nutrition directly from the water column. Beneath the floating mat, a hanging network of roots, rhizomes and attached biofilm is formed. This hanging root/biofilm network provides an active surface area for biochemical processes, as well as physical processes such as filtering and entrapment. Thus, the general FTW design objective is to maximize the contact between the root/biofilm network and the polluted water passing through the system.

To learn more - go to Floating Wetland Systems
Website Part of the Education Outreach Offered by the Water-Research Center and B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc.

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