About the Wastewater Gardens® technology

Wastewater Gardens®

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Nutrient rich effluent is
passed through water
tight compartments

Vegetation is chosen to
give root penetration
of the entire
gravel bed

The WWG control box
is used to regulate
water levels in wetland

WWG are capable of
extremely high rates
of wastewater cleaning

WWG are scientifically
designed & capableof
simple unit expansion

WWG add considerably
to the landscape beauty
where they are used

About the Wastewater Gardens® technology

A brief overview of this eco-technic invention

Wastewater Gardens® are an ecotechnic invention that uses very effective, ecologically sound, design principles. Often systems can be made that rely completely on gravity-flow, eliminating the need for pumps and electricity.

Primary treatment, to separate solids, occurs in a conventional, watertight septic tank or settling lagoon. But then, instead of passing directly into a leach field (with attendant problems of environmental pollution because of little further treatment, smell, clogging and large size), the nutrient-rich wastewater effluent passes into a compartment which is water-tight and single or multiple-cell depending on system size, where the wastewater is kept below the surface and planted with a variety of special wetland plants.

The vegetation is chosen to give root penetration of the entire gravel bed, which is filled with the wastewater. Plants are selected which can thrive in the local climate and environment. As entering effluent overflows from the first stage cell, it passes to the second (in larger Wastewater Gardens®), and then to a comparatively small subsurface discharge or subsoil irrigation. The treated water can be recycled for further irrigation of lawns, shrubs, flowers or trees. Wastewater is generally held in the wetland systems for 5-7 days. Click here to see a basic diagram of How the Wastewater Gardens® system works.

Wastewater Gardens® systems use :

Plants, microbes, sunlight & gravity to transform wastewater into beautiful gardens & reusable water. The technology has been reviewed by the U.S. EPA & European Health authorities, and meets their wastewater treatment standards.

The design uses only one fifth the area of open surface wetlands & its high biodiversity raises constructed wetlands to a complete ecological system. Wastewater Gardens® become more effective at wastewater treatment as the plants establish, compared with mechanical systems which become less effective as machinery ages. Subsurface wetland systems are long-term solutions. They have continued to function for decades since their original development in the United States and Europe in the 1970s.

Some of the many ecological subsurface flow wetland system advantages

• Fecal coliform bacteria can be reduced by more than 99% in Wastewater Gardens®, without the use of expensive, environmentally harmful chemicals like chlorine. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is usually reduced 85-90% from influent levels, and removal of nitrogen and phosphorus can be substantial.

• Wastewater Gardens® are low-cost, low-tech & long-lived. Maintenance requirements are simple.

• There are no odors as the sewage is kept from contact with the air.

• There is no mosquito-breeding or other nuisances associated with open wastewater systems, such as sewage lagoons or surface-flow wetlands.

• The possibility of accidental contact with the sewage is eliminated (unless someone deliberately digs into the wetland gravel).

• Wastewater Gardens® systems are capable of extremely high rates of wastewater cleaning. In research over the past several decades, this type of system, even in its earlier design forms, has a well-documented track record of consistently cleaning water to levels better than municipal standards for wastewater treatment.

• The intensity of treatment is such that only 1/5 the area is required compared to a surface-flow wetland. Every particle of gravel becomes colonized by the natural variety of microbes that are effective in utilizing and treating wastewater, and root systems and water/nutrient uptake of the plants increase treatment efficiency.

• Where higher treatment than normal municipal standards is required for special purposes, an increase in wetland area can provide the equivalent of advanced water treatment.

• Significantly less wastewater (20-50% depending on design) is discharged from these special wetlands, because the plants use large quantities of water in their transpiration.

• Wastewater Gardens® systems can be exactly sized, from small units for a single residence to larger areas for industry or city/town systems and so no surplus capacity need be paid for than is needed. New demands can easily be met by simple unit expansion.

• Wastewater Gardens® systems add considerably to the landscape beauty where they are used, and can also include plants to be harvested for useful or saleable products. In Mexico and Indonesia and around the world, hotels and houses with Wastewater Gardens® have some of the most beautiful gardens in their area.

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