Desalination 248 (2009) 291297

Vertical-flow constructed wetlands as sustainable sanitation

approach for faecal sludge dewatering in developing
countries
I.M. Kengnea , P.-H. Dodaneb, Amougou Akoaa, D. Koneb
a

Wastewater Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University Yaounde I, P.O. Box 8404 Yaounde, Cameroon
Tel. (237) 77 55 34 01; Fax (237) 22 23 53 86/22 22 13 20; email: ives_kengne@yahoo.fr
b
Department of Water and Sanitation in Developing Countries (Sandec), Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic
berlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, 8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland
Science and Technology (Eawag), U
Received 31 January 2008; revised accepted 15 May 2008

Abstract
Researches aiming at assessing the potentials of vertical-flow constructed wetlands vegetated with Echinochloa pyramidalis as
technically feasible approach for sludge dewatering were conducted at yard-scale experimental plant in Yaounde (Cameroon). The
performances of the system and the quality of the by-products generated were assessed for more than 6 months of constant solid
loading rates with raw faecal sludge. Results revealed that at loading rate of 100200 kg TS/m2/yr, the system performed well for
solidliquid separation, with an average dry matter content of biosolids 30% and pollutant removal efficiencies higher than 77%,
86%, 90%, 90% and 95% for NH4+, TSS, TS, NTK and COD, respectively. Besides this primary goal, the system could generate
100150 dry tons/ha/yr of forage plant and biosolids rich in nutrients that could be valorised to sustain the technology if safely
managed, since helminth egg concentrations in biosolids remained relatively high (79 eggs/g TS).
Keywords: Echinochloa pyramidalis; Biosolids; Developing countries; Faecal sludge; Sustainable approach; Vertical-flow
constructed wetlands

1. Introduction
Sustainable treatment options for faecal sludges
(FS) dewatering is stills a crucial problem in developing countries, though on site sanitation facilities remain
the most predominant system in these regions [1,2].
These facilities will continue for decades to play and


Corresponding author.

important role for excreta disposal since area wide

sewerage is not affordable. Unfortunately, very few
researches have been conducted for their treatment
once evacuated from septic tanks or pit latrines, despite
the fact that they contain pathogens and nutrient
concentrations 10100 times higher than in domestic
wastewater [3]. This gap-in knowledge on adequate
FS treatment options is one of the main reasons leading

Presented at the Water and Sanitation in International Development and Disaster Relief (WSIDDR) International
Workshop Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 2830 May 2008.
0011-9164/09/$ See front matter 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.
doi:10.1016/j.desal.2008.05.068

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I.M. Kengne et al. / Desalination 248 (2009) 291297

to their anarchic discharged without any treatment into

drains, water bodies and onto open spaces, which
thereby impaired public health and environment.
The use of adequate treatment schemes that considerably reduce the amount of pathogens and parasites in
FS is therefore of great importance. In recent years,
vertical-flow constructed wetlands (VFCW) have
gained in importance as a cost-effective and technically feasible approach for sludge dewatering, stabilisation and mineralisation [2,4,5]. Sludges are applied
on the beds, thus allowing the solid phase to be retained
on the surface of the filtering matrix where it undergoes
humification, while the liquid phase drains out of the
system for further treatment. The system relies on
emergent plants which play an important role in the
dewatering of sludge by (i) increasing the evapotranspiration rate of the beds by the dense map of vegetation and (ii) facilitating the infiltration of water via
the tubular spaces created by the movement of the
stems during the wind and by the roots complex. These
spaces maintain the drainage efficiency and prevent
clogging of the sludge phase. This ecotechnology has
the advantages of the long term sustainability with very
low costs of operation and maintenance [6]. In addition, the by-products (plants, biosolids) could be considered as valuable output which can provide
recycled products for forage or soil amendments to
satisfy the needs of local farmers [79].
Experiments were carried out at the University of
Yaounde I (Cameroon) from June 05 to July 06 in a
yard-scale VFCW vegetated with two indigenous
plants among which the highly locally prized forage
plant Echinochloa pyramidalis (also known as

Antelope grass). This paper deals with removal efficiency and dewatering capacity of E. pyramidalis beds.
It also explores the quality of the by-products which
could be generated to sustain the system.

2. Material and methods

2.1. Site of study
This work was carried out in a yard-scale VFCW
set up at the University of Yaounde I (Cameroon). The
system consists of two storage tanks of 1 m3 mounted
at 1.5 m above ground to allow a gravitational supply
of six bed units (1  1  1 m3). Details of the plant
set-up and media arrangement are given in Kengne
et al. [10].

2.2. System operation and characteristics of the raw

sludge applied
Half of the six dewatering beds (1 m2 each) were
vegetated with the antelope grass (E. pyramidalis), the
other half with Cyperus papyrus collected in the
surrounding natural wetlands. The sludge loads were
gradually increased during six months to reach nominal solid loading rates (SLRs) of 100, 200 and 300
kg TS/m2/yr. Following this, the beds were fed for
another six months at once application per week with
and interruption of one month due to plant harvesting
and regrowth. In this paper, only data from E. pyramidalis beds are considered. The characteristics of the
raw sludge applied are presented in Table 1.

Table 1
Characteristics of the raw sludge applied to the planted sludge drying bed units (n: number of samples)
Parameters

Mean

Median

Minimum

Maximum

pH
TSS (g/L)
TS (%)
TVS (%)
N  NH
4 (g/L)
NTK (g/L)
COD (g/L)
Helminth eggs/L

44
41
44
43
42
42
42
15

7.50
27.6
3.7
65.4
0.6
1.1
31.1
10409

7.5
22.6
2.9
68.9
0.4
0.9
30.5
9033

6.55
2.5
0.3
31.0
0.08
0.3
7.4
4167

9.34
124.4
12.7
90.7
3.3
3.9
72.5
22267

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293

2.3. Monitoring of the system performance

3.2. Biosolids sampling and analysis

2.3.1. Assessment of the removal efficiencies of

the beds

For both experiments, three samples of biosolids

accumulated were randomly sampled in each pilot bed,
air-dried and ground to pass through a 2 mm sieve
before performing the different analyses on their nutrient status and hygienic quality. Analyses were performed on approximately 1050 g of biosolids
mixtures collected at three different depths (surface,
middle and bottom) in each of the samples described
above. The following analyses were considered: ash
content, pH, conductivity, total organic carbon, total
nitrogen, total phosphorus, potassium, exchangeable
cations (Ca2, Na, Mg). Conductivity (expressed
in mS/cm) was determined in a sludge and water suspension using a Hach CO150 conductimeter. The dry
matter (DM) content of the biosolids removed was
determined after dry at 103105 C until constant
weight (generally overnight) while their ash content
was analysed by loss on ignition of the dry biosolids
at 550 C for 1 h [11]. Organic C (expressed in %) was
determined by chromic acid digestion and spectrophotometric analysis [13] while total organic N (expressed
in %) was determined from a wet acid digestion [14]
followed by colorimetric analysis [15]. Exchangeable
cations (Ca, Mg, K, Na) were extracted using the
Mehlich-3 procedure [16] and determined by atomic
absorption spectrophotometry. Total phosphorus was
extracted using aqua regia (HCl/HNO3 mix) and analysed using the molybdate blue procedure described
by Murphy and Riley [17].

For each application, raw sludge and percolates

from each bed unit were collected and analysed for
TS, TSS, TVS, COD, NTK and NH
4 as outlined in
Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and
Wastewater [11]. Removal efficiencies were calculated taking into consideration the inflow and outflow
loads.

2.3.2. Assessment of the clogging phenomena and

dewatering capacities
Clogging is one of the most encountered operational problem in VFCW and sludge drying beds
[5,12]. Clogging phenomena assessment was subjectively done based on the infiltration time. Field investigations showed that the liquid fraction infiltrates
within few minutes for beds well drained to more than
a week if clogged. Hence, a maximum of 2 days was
considered for beds well drained and rank 0. Beds were
considered slightly clogged if the infiltration time of
the liquid fraction ranged from 2 to 5 days (rank 1) and
severely clogged if the liquid fraction remained on the
surface of the bed after 7 days (rank 2).

3. Assessment of the quality of the by-products

3.1. Macrophytes
The important development and easy regrowth of
antelope grass led to frequent harvests of its aboveground biomass (at least thrice a year). Therefore, the
above-ground biomass was four months old at harvesting. Cross-samplings of these macrophyte species were
also compared to well-established populations of the
surrounding natural wetlands. The density and biomass
of shoots in each dewatering bed was derived by extrapolating the number of individuals of three quadrats of
0.15 m  0.15 m. Dry biomass was determined after
weighing the fresh biomass of 57 randomly selected
shoots dried in an oven at 103105 C till constant
weight was reached (generally overnight) and extrapolated to the density of the beds.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Removal efficiencies
The removal efficiencies of pollutants based on differences in input and output fluxes showed that the
beds performed relatively well both for solids, nutrients and organics, irrespective of the solid loadings rate
applied (P > 0.05). Except for NH
4 whose removal
efficiency was on an average basis lower than 78%,
the others parameters considered (TVS, TSS, TS,
NTK) had removal efficiencies 90% (Table 2).
Regarding the sanitary efficiency, the system performed very well for parasite removal, as crosschecking of percolates samples revealed no helminth
eggs/L in the percolates. The sand filter and

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I.M. Kengne et al. / Desalination 248 (2009) 291297

Table 2
Mean removal efficiencies of the different E. pyramidalis bed units (minimummaximum)
Parameters
SLR1

SLR2

SLR3

97.8 (90.099.9)
92.0 (64.999.6)
98.9 (95.299.9)
91.5 (77.899.6)
87.2 (45.199.2)
98.7 (96.799.9)
100

96.6 (73.499.7)
94.5 (70.699.9)
97.9 (78.599.9)
90.1 (69.299.3)
77.6 (8.299.7)
97.9 (73.499.9)
100

95.4 (68.099.8)
94.6 (71.199.7)
95.8 (61.899.9)
89.5 (78.798.3)
79.9 (29.199.9)
97.8 (78.099.9
100

6.1. Plant biomass

The biomass considered here was that of the above
ground. This biomass was 23 times higher after 4
months of vegetation in the FS treatment beds compared to that in well-established natural wetlands
(Fig. 2). Indeed, only about 2 kg DM/m2 biomass were
6
E. pyramidalis

5
100

200

300 kg TS/m2/yr

3
2
1

Ju

n-

06

6
M

ay

-0

6
A
pr

-0

-0
ar
M

Fe

b-

06

0
06

Globally, E. pyramidalis beds performed well as

dehydration unit of FS at SLR up to 200 kg TS/m2/yr.
Above this loading rate, beds frequently clogged,
sometimes with water hanging on the top of beds for
more than a week (Fig. 1). Beds clogging is influenced
by high solid and hydraulic load, the ability of the different FS to dewater, the low resting period after sludge
application as well as insufficient development of roots.
Nielsen [5] suggested the absence of capillary connection between the different layers of the sludge as factor
leading to clogging in sludge drying reed beds in
Denmark.
Since the beds rarely clogged at 100 kg TS/m2/yr,
the average DM content of the biosolids accumulated
prior each application was the highest (>30%). This
high DM obtained with one application per week could
be explained by (i) the high numbers of leaves/shoot

6. By-products quality generated by the system

n-

5. Occurrence of beds clogging and DM content

of sludge

and the high density of plants (250 to approximately

400 shoots/m2) which probably enhanced the evapotranspiration in the beds and the cracks that appeared
in the biosolids accumulated; (ii) the higher temperature generally encountered in tropical regions (daily
temperatures vary between 23 C and 35 C in
Yaounde). The DM varies with season with the highest
values obtained during dry season.

Ja

subsequent sludge deposition may act efficiently on

the removal of these parasites. Despite these good
removal efficiencies, the concentration of percolate
in pollutants remained relatively high with regard
to the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive
(91/271/EEC). However, regarding the actual state
of FS management which consist of anarchic discharge of raw FS into the environment, it appears reasonable to advise the use of this treatment system, at
least for solidliquid separation before subsequent
treatment into waste stabilisation ponds or constructed wetlands.

Clogging ocurence

TVS
TS
TSS
NTK
NH4
COD
Helminth eggs

Removal efficiencies (%)

Time

Fig. 1. Occurrence of clogging events in the E. pyramidalis

beds with respect to solid loading rates applied.

I.M. Kengne et al. / Desalination 248 (2009) 291297

Aerial biomass (kg DM2/)m

12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
100

Natural
200
300
wetlands
Solid loading rates applied (kg TS/m2/yr)

Fig. 2. Plant biomass as a function of the different SLRs.

Values of the natural wetlands are given for comparison.

recorded in the surrounding wetlands, as opposed to 5

and 7 kg DM/m2 in dewatering beds. Therefore, management of this plant on an annual three-harvest basis
will yield about 100150 dry tons/ha of shoots that
could be potentially recycled as forage for farmers if
safely managed.

6.2. Quality of the biosolids

The biosolids accumulated on top of beds were
slightly acidic (pH  6). When considering their nutrients values (Table 3), they exhibited high nutrient

295

contents, similar to that of poultry manure, especially

for total nitrogen and total phosphorus. Agendia et al.
[18] found 0.53% and 1.01% DM (total organic N and
total phosphorus, respectively) in compost produced
from the by-products (Pistia stratiotes and sludge) generated by the macrophytic lagoon treatment system in
Yaounde.
When considering their hygienic quality, the biosolids showed high concentration of helminth eggs (79
eggs/g TS), with more than 73% belonging to Ascaris
sp. This high concentration of Ascaris eggs followed
their pattern in the raw FS as the analysis was carried
out just one month after stopping beds feeding. Koottatep et al. [2] reported less than 6 eggs/g TS in VFCW
treating septage in Bangkok after 7 years. The high prevalence of parasitic diseases among populations of
sub-Saharan countries could be a factor explaining this
difference.
There are no regulatory guidelines concerning the
reuse of FS in most African countries. However, the
hygienic quality of the biosolids obtained did not comply with the WHO regulatory guidelines of less than 1
helminth egg/g TS to be used for unrestrictive agriculture[19]. It was therefore suggested, if the biosolids had
to be reused for fertilisation of raw edible crops such as
lettuce or carrots, to store them for a longer period or to
co-compost them upon removal, as the higher

Table 3
Chemical characteristics of the dewatered sludge
Parameters

Mean + St. Dev.

Poultry manure

pH
Conductivity (mS/cm)
Dry matter (% DM)
Ash content (%)
CaO (% DM)
MgO (% DM)
K2O (% DM)
Na2O (% DM)
Total N (% DM)
Total C (% DM)
Total P2O5 (% DM)
Helminth eggs (count/g TS)

18
18
27
27
24
24
24
24
24
24
12
54

6.01 + 0.26
259 + 112
31.4 + 6.9
39.8 + 6.2
1.04 + 0.22
0.14 + 0.04
0.03 +0.01
0.09 + 0.03
2.00 +0.2
22.6 + 3.2
2.3 + 0.6
78.9 + 65.9

8.77

3.5
1.75
0.39
0.36
2.4
22.3
2.5

n number of samples

poultry manure from a farmyard of Yaounde.

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I.M. Kengne et al. / Desalination 248 (2009) 291297

temperature of the thermophilic phase have been

shown to significantly affect the inactivation rate of
pathogens [2022].

[2]

7. Conclusion
This study revealed that the indigenous macrophytes
E. pyramidalis could be used to sustain the solid liquid
separation of FS produced in most African countries.
The removal efficiencies obtained for most of the parameters considered was >90%. Loading the beds with FS
at 100200 kg TS/m2/yr permitted to limit the occurrence of clogging. Meanwhile, 100150 dry tons/ha
of plant biomass could be generated by the system if
properly managed.
The biosolids exhibited high nutrients contents
with total N and P2O5 accounting for up to 2% and
2.3% DM respectively. However, helminth eggs
remained relatively higher (79 eggs/g TS on an average
basis) to the WHO guidelines for direct reuse in unrestrictive agriculture, therefore requiring a longer storage
time or co-composting to accelerate its safety.
The high biomass production on dewatering beds
and its use as forage crop in many African countries
as well as the good quality of biosolids generated show
that this system has the potential to generate substantial
revenue to lower the treatment plant operational and
maintenance costs if safely managed, thus linking sanitation to business opportunity [23].

[3]

[4]
[5]
[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]
[10]

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to extent thanks to the Swiss
National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR)
NorthSouth: Research Partnerships for Mitigating
Syndromes of Global Change, co-funded by the Swiss
National Science Foundation (SNF) and the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Our
thanks is also extended to the International foundation
for Science (IFS, Sweden, grant W4115/1) for additional support.

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