AMMONIA EFFECTS ON THE BIOMASS PRODUCTION OF 5 CONSTRUCTED WETLAND PLANT-SPECIES

The effect of four levels of ammonia concentration on the biomass prod uction of Sagittaria latifolia (arrowhead), Phragmites australis (comm on reed), Scirpus acutus (bullrush), Typha latifolia (cattail), and Ju ncus roemerianus (common rush) was studied using field scale construct ed wetland ponds of 3.05 x 0.6 m. These species of plants are common i n constructed wetlands treating animal waste lagoon effluent. Twenty p onds were constructed to accommodate the five species and four ammonia levels. The experiment had three repetitions in time. Effluent from t he second cell of a two cell anaerobic lagoon system treating flushed swine waste was utilized at four dilution levels, providing mean ammon ia concentrations of 20.5, 41.1, 61.6 and 82.4 mg NH3-N/L for the stud y. Biomass production was determined by harvesting the plants at speci fied time intervals and measuring dry weight production. The ponds wer e operated as standard constructed wetlands with a water depth of 10-1 5 cm. After the 3 month field study was completed, statistical analysi s of the data was performed. This analysis showed that the only specie s affected by ammonia concentration was Scirpus acutus. The remaining four species were statistically unaffected. Darn from the study also s hows a significant difference in the biomass production between specie s. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.