Wastewater treatment, constructed wetlands and lagooning: feedback from Europe

Abstract

Extensive wastewater treatment techniques using artificial marshes and natural lagooning are widely used around the world in very different contexts. The relatively simple operating constraints associated with the robustness of their operation and the quality of the effluent they deliver are conferring them a growing scientific interest. The success of the conferences organised jointly by the IWA (International Water Asoosciation) and ASTEE (Scientific and Technical Association for Water and the Environment) in Avignon in September 2004 confirms this. However, the design modes and the mechanisms involved are different for each family of systems (e.g. vertical or horizontal flow filters, mixed systems). This special issue of Ingénieries-EAT brings together 10 articles presenting a "state of the art" in Europe and France. Their dissemination within the community of water stakeholders in France can enrich the reflections of scientists and consultancies in order to further increase their use, if necessary through the association of sectors that are currently little used in France.