Constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment: a comparative Life Cycle Assessment

A Life Cycle Assessment was carried out in order to assess the environmental performance of constructed wetland systems for winery wastewater treatment. In particular, six scenarios which included the most common winery wastewater treatment and management options in South-Western Europe, namely third-party management and activated sludge systems, were compared. Results showed that the constructed wetland scenarios were the most environmentally friendly alternatives, while the third-party management was the worst scenario followed by the activated sludge systems. Specifically, the potential environmental impacts of the constructed wetlands scenarios were 1.5–180 and 1–10 times lower compared to those generated by the third-party and activated sludge scenarios, respectively. Thus, under the considered circumstances, constructed wetlands showed to be an environmentally friendly technology which helps reducing environmental impacts associated with winery wastewater treatment by treating winery waste on-site with low energy and chemicals consumption.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Carbon footprint of constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment

The aim of this study was to estimate the carbon footprint (CFP) of constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment. In particular, a constructed wetland scenario was compared to the previous scenario (third-party management) and to an activated sludge system. CFP considered both indirect and direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measured on-site. Moreover, an economic analysis of the considered scenarios was also addressed. The results showed that the constructed wetland scenario had the lowest CFP (1.2 kg CO2eq mwater-3), while the third-party management was the worst scenario (52 kg CO2eq mwater-3) followed by the activated sludge system (4.5 kg CO2eq mwater-3). This was mainly due to the high GHG emissions generated by wastewater and sludge transportation as well as chemicals and electricity consumption in the third-party and activated sludge scenarios compared to the constructed wetlands. In terms of costs, the constructed wetland system was shown to be a low-cost technology which would reduce the capital, operation and maintenance costs associated with winery wastewater treatment up to 50% and 98%, respectively. Finally, constructed wetlands are low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies which constitute a sustainable alternative to conventional solutions for winery wastewater treatment.This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg V-B SUDOE programme, WETWINE SOE1/P5/E0300). Laura Flores is grateful to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MECD) (Spain) for the FPU16/01491 scholarship. Joan García, Marianna Garfí and Laura Flores are grateful to the Government of Catalonia (Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1029). Marianna Garfí acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2016-20059). The authors are grateful for the support provided by the WETWINE consortium and the wineries involved in this study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Promotion of full-scale constructed wetlands in the wine sector: comparison of greenhouse gas emissions with activated sludge systems

The aim of this study was to quantify and compare greenhouse gas (GHG) (i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrousoxide (N2O) and methane (CH4)) emissions from two full-scale winery wastewater and sludge treatment sys-tems (i.e. constructed wetlands (CWs) and activated sludge system) located in Galicia (Spain). GHG fluxeswere measured using the static chamber method in combination with an on-site Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) gas analyser in the CWs system. These on-site innovative techniques proved to be very accurateand reliable. In the activated sludge treatment systems, thefloating chamber method in combination with the FTIR gas analyser was used. Measurements were carried out during the vintage season, when winery wastewaterhas the highestflow and loads, and the rest of the year. Emission rates of CO2, N2O and CH4 in the CWs units(i.e. vertical flow, horizontal subsurface flow and sludge treatment wetlands) ranged from 1.35E+02 to 7.54E+04, 1.70E-01 to 3.09E+01 and-3.05E+01 to 1.79E+03 mg m-2day-1, respectively. In the case ofthe activated sludge units (i.e. reactor, secondary settler and sludge storage tank) emission rates CO2, N2O and CH4 ranged from 1.56E+04 to 1.43E+05, 1.13E+01 to 4.75E+01 and 2.52E+01 to 1.01E+03 mg m-2 day-1, respectively. Seasonally, daily and instantaneous variability in emissions as well as spatial variability was found. Comparing CWs with the activated sludge system, surface emission rates were lower in the CWs system in both seasons considered. Results highlighted that CWs are suitable technologies that can help to reduce GHG emis-sions associated with winery wastewater treatment.This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg V-B SUDOE programme, WETWINE SOE1/P5/E0300) (http://wetwine.eu/). Laura Flores is grateful to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MECD) (Spain) for the FPU16/01491 scholarship. Joan García, Marianna Garfí and Laura Flores are grateful to the Government of Catalonia (Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1029). Marianna Garfí is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2016-20059). The authors are grateful for the support provided by the WETWINE consortium and the wineries involved in this study. The results shown in this paper were presented in the 2019 WETPOL Conference (Aarhus, Denmark) under the oral presentation: “Constructed wetlands release less greenhouse gas emissions than activated sludge: a key point for their implementation in the wine sector” by Laura Flores who was awarded with the First Prize in the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) Europe Chapter Oral Presentation Competition.Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::6 - Aigua Neta i SanejamentObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::6 - Aigua Neta i Sanejament::6.3 - Per a 2030, millorar la qualitat de l’aigua mitjançant la reducció de la contaminació, l’eliminació dels abocaments i la reducció al mínim de la descàrrega de materials i productes químics perillosos, la reducció a la meitat del percentatge d’aigües residuals sense tractar, i un augment substancial a escala mundial del reciclat i de la reutilització en condicions de seguretatPostprint (author's final draft

Constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment: a comparative Life Cycle Assessment

A Life Cycle Assessment was carried out in order to assess the environmental performance of constructed wetland systems for winery wastewater treatment. In particular, six scenarios which included the most common winery wastewater treatment and management options in South-Western Europe, namely third-party management and activated sludge systems, were compared. Results showed that the constructed wetland scenarios were the most environmentally friendly alternatives, while the third-party management was the worst scenario followed by the activated sludge systems. Specifically, the potential environmental impacts of the constructed wetlands scenarios were 1.5–180 and 1–10 times lower compared to those generated by the third-party and activated sludge scenarios, respectively. Thus, under the considered circumstances, constructed wetlands showed to be an environmentally friendly technology which helps reducing environmental impacts associated with winery wastewater treatment by treating winery waste on-site with low energy and chemicals consumption.Peer Reviewe