Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment and reuse: Two decades of experience from China

Constructed wetlands (CWs) can be used for water purification and ecological restoration through the synergistic effects of substrates, aquatic plants, and microorganisms. This study explored a bibliometric approach to quantitatively evaluate the recent research progress and applications of CWs in China by synthetically analyzing publication output characteristics, research hotspots and quantified China's unique contributions to global CW applications. The results indicated that the number of papers published in the field of CWs has shown an overall upward trend in the past two decades, and the research hotspots mainly focus on the nitrogen and phosphorus removal, microbial community. China has actively supported the investigation and application of CWs for wastewater treatment and reuse. More than 40 species of plants and over 30 types of substrates have been employed in CWs for treating different types of wastewater, such as domestic sewage, industrial effluents, river water, and drinking water. Several successful case studies of full-scale CWs have been selected and summarized to highlight the extensive application of CWs in China and provided a CW localized design framework.