Water Wheel Sept/Oct 2020: Water And The Environment 2

Abstract

Using the power of nature to manage the impact of people on the planet is not revolutionary anymore. Constructed wetlands, in particular, have grown in popularity. These green engineered systems use plants, soil and organisms to treat wastewater, and they are relatively common in the treatment of municipal or industrial wastewater, greywater or stormwater. In recent years, artificial wetlands to treat effluent have also become somewhat more commonplace on farms. In the Western Cape, it has been punted as a cost-effective choice to treat wastewater generated during the wine production process. On some farms, wetlands are also used to treat sewage to irrigation water standards. Lesser known in the country is that one of the earliest studies internationally that proved the capacity of constructed wetlands to filter pesticides before it enters streams and rivers, also took place in the Western Cape. Though this has now been proved successful in different countries, it’s not widely applied, or common knowledge on local shores.

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