[Preliminary study on denitrification capacity of constructed wetlands filled by bark]

Constructed wetlands have been widely used for the treatment of outlets of municipal wastewater treatment plants, treatment of agricultural pollution etc, adequate carbon is a very good source for denitrification and it is very crucial for improving the removal rate of nitrate nitrogen in constructed wetlands. An attempt has been made to workout for the nitrate removal by the integrated vertical constructed wetland, the bark was used for carbon source, the results shows the denitrifying bacteria in the constructed wetlands can utilize the carbon source very well, produced by bark to remove nitrate nitrogen. The efficiency of denitrification increases with the increase of the hydraulic loading and the influent nitrate loading,but the rate of the nitrate nitrogen removal decreases. At the condition of influent NO3(-)-N of 50 mg/L and the hydraulic loading of 0.1 m3/(m2 x d), the removal rate of nitrate nitrogen in the wetland system is around 80%. The suitable pH is 7 to 8 and when the pH is out of this range, it restricts the denitrification process.