Phytotoxicity testing of winery wastewater for constructed wetland treatment

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 169; no. 1; pp. 94 - 99
• Main Authors: Arienzo, Michele, Christen, Evan W., Quayle, Wendy C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 30-09-2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Allium; Allium cepa; Applied sciences; Bioassay; Continental surface waters; Exact sciences and technology; Freshwater; General purification processes; Industrial Waste - analysis; Juncus; Lepidium sativum; Natural water pollution; Onions; Phragmites; Phragmites australis; Phytotoxicity test; Plant Development; Plants - metabolism; Pollution; Schoenoplectus; Toxicity; Toxicity Tests - methods; Toxicity Tests - standards; Vitaceae; Waste water; Wastewater; Wastewaters; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water treatment and pollution; Wetland; Wetlands; Wine; Wineries; Winery; WW; Winery; Bioassay; Chl b; Chl a; L; Wastewater; Phytotoxicity test; EC 30 and EC 50, respectively; TSS; ANOVA; COD; LSD; Wetland; EC; NL; Garden; Toxicity; Biomass; Nitrogen; Waste water; Biological purification; Wine industry; Phytoroxicity test; Amendment; Liming amendment; Phytotoxicity; Chemical oxygen demand; Artificial medium; Surface water; Production; Water quality; Phenols; pH; Aquatic plant; Waste water purification
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.03.069

Rapid and inexpensive phytotoxicity bioassays for winery wastewater (WW) are important when designing winery wastewater treatment systems involving constructed wetlands. Three macrophyte wetland species (
Phragmites australis,
Schoenoplectus validus and
Juncus ingens) were tested using a pot experiment simulating a wetland microcosm. The winery wastewater concentration was varied (0.5%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and pH was corrected for some concentrations using lime as an amendment. The tolerance of the three aquatic macrophytes species to winery wastewater was studied through biomass production, total chlorophyll and nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium tissue concentrations. The results showed that at greater than 25% wastewater concentration all the macrophytes died and that
Phragmites was the least hardy species. At less than 25% wastewater concentration the wetland microcosms were effective in reducing chemical oxygen demand, phenols and total soluble solids.
We also evaluated the performance of two laboratory phytotoxicity assays; (1) Garden Cress (
Lepidium sativum), and (2) Onion (
Allium coepa). The results of these tests revealed that the effluent was highly toxic with effective concentration, EC
50, inhibition values, as low as 0.25%. Liming the WW increased the EC
50 by 10 fold.
Comparing the cress and onion bioassays with the wetland microcosm results indicated that the thresholds for toxicity were of the same order of magnitude. As such we suggest that the onion and cress bioassays could be effectively used in the wine industry for rapid wastewater toxicity assessment.