Wetlands for Tropical Applications

This book provides a systematic exposition of the design features of constructed wetlands, and their management (in terms of siting, physical maintenance, and operation). Only very few books (or chapters) have been published on constructed wetlands in tropical conditions and none are current. The selection of plant species, managing their growth and harvesting cycles, and the impact these have on the attenuation of organic and inorganic pollutants, nutrients, and pathogens would be of interest to students and practitioners of the art working under tropical conditions. The potential of constructed wetlands as a low-cost intervention for developing countries in tropical regions that faced water pollution problems, in particular, deserves to be explored systematically.

• An Introduction to Wetlands in the Tropics (Jagath Manatunge and W.A.U. Witharana):
  • Definitions of Wetlands
  • Geographic Distribution of Tropical Natural Wetlands
  • Adoption to the Tropical Environment
  • Constructed Wetlands in Tropical Climates
  • Examples of Applications
• The Tropical Environment (M.I.M. Mowjood and S. Sasikala):
  • Population and Food Production
  • Changing Environments
  • Environmental Degradation
  • Protecting the Environment
• Pollutants and Wetland Treatment (K.B.S.N. Jinadasa and G.M.P.R. Weerakoon):
  • Wetland Treatment Process
  • Pollutants and Their Transformations
• Wetland Plant Dynamics (Norio Tanaka and S.K. Weragoda):
  • Types of Macrophytes and Factors Affecting Their Growth
  • Role of Macrophytes in Wetlands
  • Plant Physiology
  • Case Study on Growth Characteristics of Wetland Macrophytes
• Design of Tropical Constructed Wetlands (W.J. Ng and Gayan Gunaratne):
  • The Importance of Wastewater Quality Parameters in Facility Design
  • Process Design — Reaction Rate and Hydraulic Residence Time (HRT)
  • Water Quality Improvement — A Tropical Case Study
  • Effects of Vegetation on Water Quality Improvement
• Engineering the Wetlands (D.R.I.B. Werellagama and Sisira Karunaratne):
  • Introduction
  • Flow Control
  • Substrate in Wetlands
  • Construction Aspects
  • Pre-Treatment for the Wetland System
  • Maintenance of Wetlands
• Cost and Sustainability of Constructed Wetlands (A.K. Karunarathna):
  • Introduction
  • Construction Costs
  • Operation and Maintenance Costs
  • Sustainability of Constructed Wetlands in Tropics