Domestic wastewater treatment by constructed wetlands enhanced with bioremediating rhizobacteria

Constructed wetlands (CWs) offer several advantages for treating waters; however, the successful application of these systems remains a challenge. Practical solutions to pollution through CWs remain incipient because wetlands are still studied as "black boxes"; further studies are required regarding the involvement of rhizosphere bacteria in the removal of pollutants. This research focused on increasing the performance of CWs treatment systems for the removal of inorganic and organic pollutants from domestic wastewater, by the application of native bioremediating rhizobacteria. A bacterial consortium (CAD/1S) was designed with four rhizobacteria strains isolated from Typha domingensis plants of natural wetlands. Each individual strain was identified by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. This consortium removed organic matter, ammonium, and phosphate with percentages over 70% from model wastewater. The evaluation of abiotic and biotic factors' influence on pollutant removal indicated the best conditions to remove pollutants: a neutral pH, a 72-h contact time, and an inoculum from single growth of each strain. The subsequent bioaugmentation with the consortium of CWs at laboratory scale allowed 100%, greater than 70 and 55% removal of organic matter, ammonium, and phosphate, respectively. The set of results allowed the proposal of a new strategy for the improvement of CWs technology for the treatment of domestic wastewater pollutants.