Humedales de Flujo Subsuperficial: Una Alternativa Natural para el Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales Domésticas en Zonas Tropicales

Abstract

Natural wastewater treatment methods (NWWT) are emerging as low-cost, easy to operate and efficient systems compared to conventional wastewater treatment systems. NWWT units based on macrophytes (plants that grow in saturated media) play an important role in wastewater treatment. In this sense, constructed wetlands (CW) are systems that mimic the diverse processes occurring in natural wetlands. The former are complex man-made reactors consisting of a saturated stratum, submerged, emergent or floating vegetation that attracts superior forms of life to form a whole ecosystem aimed at reducing the level of pollution. These CW are classified as surface flow and subsurface flow systems. This paper presents the main design criteria and considerations for subsurface flow CW dimensioning. In general terms, it is shown that subsurface flow CW have a great potential for sustainable domestic wastewater treatment in tropical regions such as Colombia and the Valle del Cauca in particular.