ABSTRACT
The treatment of aqueous effluents by their application to wetlands for natural purification is a historical practice but over the past 15 years considerable interest has developed in the concept of using constructed wetlands for the treatment of point sources of pollution. This interest has arisen because of the need to identify low-cost environmentally friendly techniques for the treatment of dirty waters. Research conducted by the University of Birmingham into the use of reed beds for treating farm dirty waters commenced in 1986. The work has progressed through three separate experimental periods, with the combined horizontal and downflow reed bed systems at the two farms being identical in form, though differing in size. The dirty water used in the trials included septic tank sewage effluent, farmyard run-off from heaps of pig manure and dairy parlour washings. The application of engineered reed beds' in horizontal flow beds to the tertiary treatment of sewage has proved economically sound in small rural works.
