Talavera de la Reina

Location:  A pilot designed in Talavera de la Reina, a city with ~83,000 inhabitants in central Iberian Peninsula in Spain and close to Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Climate: The region deals with a harsher continental climate of the peninsula's central plateau. Nevertheless, this city is not too far from Tagus riverside, which mitigates the severity of a more continental climate that is characterised by low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer.

Context: The pilot in Talavera de la Reina is situated close to the river Tagus. The pilot is located close to a local wastewater treatment plant.

Typology: Three main typologies:

- contructed wetland in continous aerated condition with bio-electric conduction filter

- contructed wetland in continous aerated condition

- contructed wetland with no aeration or bio-electric conduction

Description:

The pilot has implemented three different vertical constructed wetlands' systems, one which is continuously aerated, one continously aerated with bioelectric filter and a traditional one (without aeration or bio-electric conduction). The system is besides the wastewater treatment plant and directly treats the influent that does not go into the conventional plant. Then, the water treated is used for other activities. The wastewater plant discharges into the Tagus River.

Main technological innovation:

The three main technological innovations introduced into this system are as follows:

• Bio-augmentation with Pseudomonas veronil
• A substrate with bio-electroconductive material tested by Aarhus University to enhance the removal of NH4+ and Contaminants of Emergent Concern (CECs)
• Integration of aerated sytems, in this case using two processes, one with bio-electroconductive material and another with passive aeration
• This pilot has been designed to demonstrate in real conditions the innovation of using a subsurface wetland to treat wastewater with three main technological innovations.

Synergies:

•  CETIM research institution supported in the design of the ammended soil.
•  INRAE and Aarhus helped with recommendations for both the vertical flow aerated design and the bio-electric filter, respectively.