Innovative Use of Discarded Clay Cups in Constructed Wetland With Ipomoea carnea for Saline Water Treatment.

Six horizontal flow small scale constructed wetlands were developed to test the efficacy of discarded clay cups (DCCs) in removing nutrients from saline wastewater. In the summer, the average total dissolved solid (TDS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal effectiveness of constructed wetlands was 82.7% and 80.1%, respectively, whereas in the winter, it was 70% and 65%. DCC bed wetlands have higher TDS and COD removal efficiency, with average removal rates of 83% and 80.6% in the summer and 74.7% and 70.7% in the winter, respectively, as well as better adsorption. Introducing Ipomoea carnea to the DCC bed considerably enhanced (p < 0.05) treatment efficiency of constructed wetlands. Seasonal variation has a substantial impact on pollution removal; however, superior performance was observed during the summer season. Building on insights from small-scale studies, scaling up to full-scale systems will be a key focus for the future scope of this research, allowing us to tackle larger scale water treatment challenges more effectively.