Abstract
Contaminants from wastewater of aquaculture are increasing the risks of red tides in coastal areas. Such types of contaminants are difficult to remove by using conventional biological and ecological treatment methods because of the relatively low C/N ratios and the high salinity in coastal water ambience. Fe is considered a key element in natural chemical cycling and promotes the growth of animals and plants as well. The cycling of Fe ion combined with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stimulates bacterial growth. As a result, it acts as a microbial carbon pump in coastal areas, such as natural wetlands, which have been activated and adapted to be salinity resistant and insufficient energy supply. Along these lines, in this work, constructed wetlands (CWs) with high ecological benefits and low cost of maintenance were used to treat aquaculture wastewater. The impact of Fe ion recycling on multiple contaminants was also systematically investigated. The two types of Fe dosage were pure ferrous ions and a mixture of iron powder and ferrous ions. After the application of a 3-day treatment, the dosage of iron powder/ferric ions (1:1 m/m) at a concentration of 15 mg L−1 showed a better effect, where the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand removal rates were increased by 2.95%, 2.16%, and 9.76%, respectively. From the microbial analysis, it was indicated that Fe ion affected the abundance and functions of the microbial communities in the CWs. The significant enrichment of Proteobacteria promoted the removal of multiple contaminants under saline stress and fixed carbon, and affected the whole microbe distribution and diversity in CWs. The implementation of such an environmentally friendly and economical approach arises as a promising candidate for the efficient removal of multiple contaminants from aquacultural wastewater in coastal zones.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2023YFC3208405); Open Foundation of Hebei Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Conservation (grant no. hklk202201); and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51909157).
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Gao Xueqing, Yanqiu Liu, and Cheng Mengqi: conceptualization, former analysis, data curation, writing—original draft, project administration. Yinjiang Zhang and Zhufang Wang: former analysis. Zhao Zhimiao: resources, supervision, conceptualization, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing.
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Key points
• Fe ions promote the removal of multiple contaminants by triggering the cycling of C and N.
• Microbial diversity was improved and the functional bacteria Proteobacteria was obviously more abundant.
• The ability of Planctomycetes to carbon cycle anammox process was enhanced by the participation of Fe ions in coastal areas.
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Gao, X., Liu, Y., Cheng, M. et al. Investigating the addition of Fe for improving contaminant removal and regulating microbes in a simulated coastal wetland. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 42174–42184 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33733-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33733-9