Investigation of Nitrate Removal from Zarjoub River Water of Rasht Using a Hybrid Wetland System

With the influx of agricultural, industrial and hospital pollutants into surface and groundwater, human health and other living organisms are facing a serious threat. Zarjoub River is one of the most polluted rivers in the country, which passes through the center of Rasht and all kinds of dangerous pollutants such as nitrate, phosphate and dangerous heavy metals flow into it. Artificial wetlands are one of the low-cost and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment methods that have received a lot of attention today. In this study, the use of artificial wetlands in sequential using three different plant species of phragmites, lemna and vetiver with two different arrangements to remove nitrate in autumn of 2019 and summer of 2020 has been investigated. The results showed that the average percentage of nitrate reduction by two plant treatments was 73% and 68%, and for the control treatment it was 35%, which indicates the effect of plants in wetlands. Also, the result showed that the amount of nitrate reduction from the effluent was directly related to temperature changes and growth status of plants. The results showed that the use of hybrid wetlands can have a good removal efficiency for pollutants compared to their individual use, but the difference in plant arrangement in wetlands, although statistically significant at a probability level of 1%, had little effect on the nitrate removal process on effluent.