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FLOATING WETLANDS

Floating Wetlands as a Nature Based Solution to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wastewater

Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) contribute significantly to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by releasing up to 10,000 tonnes CO2-equivalent per year. Besides carbon dioxide (CO2), sewage sludge treatments in WWTPs release methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) – gases with 100-year global warming potentials 34 to 273 times greater than that of CO2. Our team is exploring new ways to reduce GHG emissions from WWTPs through the use of floating wetlands.

Background

Floating wetlands consist of buoyant structures supporting native wetland plants. By directly absorbing nutrients from the water column, floating wetlands act as biological filters to reduce nutrients and lower GHG emissions from wastewater lagoons. Floating wetlands are therefore a promising strategy to decrease the carbon footprint of WWTPs.

In collaboration with Westernport Water and Clarity Aquatic, we are developing new designs for floating wetlands to reduce nutrient loads and associated GHG emissions from WWTPs. The overall goal of this project is to establish new management strategies for climate change mitigation and engage with stakeholders to discuss incentives for greener practices.

The efficacy of floating wetlands for nutrient removal

 

Floating wetlands are readily used to treat high-nutrient water bodies such as stormwater and wastewater. Our initial studies show that our prototype of floating wetlands can:

  • Reduce total nitrogen and total phosphorus by 58% and 49%, respectively.
  • Reduce GHG emissions by up to 50%
  • Reduce the concentrations of toxic PFAS chemicals and other pollutants

Funding & Program partners

This program is managed by Dr Lukas Schuster and Dr Martino Malerba from the Blue Carbon Lab.

The Australian Research Council funded this project through a DECRA fellowship awarded to Dr Malerba. Other partners include the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Westernport Water, Clarity Aquatic and Covey Associates PTY LTD.

DEECA
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clarity aquatic
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covey associates engineering

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Contact

Dr Lukas Schuster

Dr Martino Malerba

Blue Carbon Lab
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
  • Research
    • Blue Carbon
      • Seychelles Blue Carbon
      • Queensland Blue
      • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
      • Western Australia Blue
      • Blue Carbon Management
      • Tea Composition H2O
    • Teal Carbon
      • Farm dams
      • Floating wetlands
      • Revitalising Australia’s Freshwater Wetlands
    • Valuing Ecosystem Services
      • Mapping Ocean Wealth
      • Guide to Valuing Coastal Wetlands
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Coastal Wetland Restoration
        • The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program
        • Restoring Avalon’s wetlands
        • Regenerating Our Coasts
        • Enabling Blue Carbon Markets
      • Kelp restoration
      • Freshwater Wetland Restoration
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
      • GeelongPort citizen science
    • Microplastics
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Publications
  • News
  • Opportunities
  • Contact
Blue Carbon Lab