Alum sludge-driven electro-phytoremediation in constructed wetlands: a novel approach for sustainable nutrient removal†

In addition to their advantages as promising methods for wastewater treatment, CWs exhibit poor performance in terms of N and P removal efficiency in the effluent of wastewater treatment plants. By focusing on this issue, we designed CWs integrated with a biochar-doped activated carbon cloth (ACC) electrode and alum sludge from water treatment plants as a substrate to achieve concomitant organic matter and nutrient removal efficiency. Compared with the use of one layer of alum sludge in CWs (CWs-C3) with ACC electrodes inserted in two layers, which uses one layer of alum sludge, a significant improvement in removal efficiency was achieved (96% for COD; 89% for TN; and 77% for TP). The findings revealed that the application of potential accompanied by the insertion of a cathode ACC electrode into the first layer of alum sludge was beneficial for completing nitrification and facilitating denitrification in the cathode and anode regions, respectively, resulting in increased removal of organic matter and nutrients. Further evaluation revealed that the TN-TP synergetic removal mechanism was influenced by the use of Fe²⁺ as an electron donor and as a driving force for the development of autotrophic denitrifying bacteria to increase nitrate reduction. Additionally, the formation of FePO₄ and AlPO₄ and their adsorption through the interaction of FeOOH and AlOOH with phosphate constitute the main removal mechanism for TP in wastewater. Another reason for the increased removal efficiency in the CW-C3 reactor was the greater abundance and microbial diversity effectuated by the application of potential in the anode and cathode regions. In summary, a promising strategy for simultaneously promoting organic matter and nutrients and utilizing CWs on a large scale and in practical applications was proposed.