Methane emissions from a constructed wetland treating wastewater—seasonal and spatial distribution and dependence on edaphic factors

Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment have many advantages. They can be used for several purposes, for example, to reduce levels of organic matter and nutrients, and to retain toxic metals. However, most wetlands are inherently net sources of gaseous compounds like methane and nitrous oxide, which are of environmental concern due to their rapid current accumulation in the atmosphere and their potent global warming capacity. In order to determine the flux of methane from a constructed wetland a study was conducted over two growth seasons on a pilot scale wetland constructed to reduce nutrient levels in secondary treated wastewater. The emissions for the spring to autumn period averaged 141 mg CH4 m−2 d−1 (S.D.=187), ranging from consumption of 375 mg CH4 m−2 d−1 to emissions of 1739 mg CH4 m−2 d−1. The spatial and temporal variations were large, but could be accounted for by measured environmental factors. Among these factors, sediment and water temperatures were significant in all cases and independent of the scale of analysis (r2 up to 0.88).