New insights for simultaneous nutrient removal enhancement and greenhouse gas emissions reduction of constructed wetland by optimizing its redox environment through manganese oxide addition

Abstract

Manganese oxide (MnO x ) is receiving increased interest in the nutrient removal of constructed wetlands (CWs); however, its service effectiveness for simultaneous greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction is still vague. In this study, three vertical flow CWs, i.e., volcanics (C CW), manganese sand uniformly mixing with volcanics (Mn-CW) and MnO x doped volcanics (MnV-CW), were constructed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of MnO x on nutrient removal enhancement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. The results showed that the MnO x doped volcanics optimized the oxidation–reduction potential surrounding the substrate (-164.0 ∼ +141.1 mv), and resulted in the lowest GHG emissions (CO 2 -equivalent) from MnV-CW, 16.8–36.5 % lower than that of Mn-CW and C CW . This was mainly ascribed to mitigation of N 2 O produced during the NO 3 − -N reduction process, according to results of 15 N stable isotope labeling. Analysis of the microbial community structure revealed that due to the optimized redox conditions through chemical doping of MnO x on volcanics, the abundance of microbe involved in denitrification and Mn-oxidizing process in the MnV-CW was significantly increased at genus level, which led to a higher Mn cycling efficiency between biogenic MnO x and Mn 2+ , and enhanced denitrification efficiency and N 2 O emission reduction. This study would help to understand and provide a preferable reference for future applications for manganese-based CW.