Using wetlands to remove phosphorus and improve water quality: Cromhall case study | WEBINAR

Hosted by the CIWEM South Western branch 

Event description

The Cromhall wetland was constructed by Wessex Water, working in partnership with the Wildlife and Wetland Trust, Environment Agency, Tortworth Estate and Bristol Avon Rivers Trust. It is the first permitted constructed wetland at a water recycling centre which has been designed to achieve a phosphorus removal standard, providing huge insight into the design, regulatory and operational requirements of this system.

The site is being monitored by a team of researchers from the GW4 universities FRESH CDT programme. The results from their studies will be used by Wessex Water to inform trialling of similar wetlands and woodlands across the region as part of the government’s green recovery initiative.

This discussion will comprise of four presentations and provide a background on the role of nature based solutions, specifically wetlands, as permitted sewage treatment processes. Our speakers will look at the research data collected, highlighting the wide range of physical and bio-chemical processes within the wetland contributing to the change in levels of a range of pollutants, including nutrients, chemicals and pathogens

The first presentation will be from Ruth Barden, director of environmental solutions at Wessex Water. Ruth will describe the original discussions and aspirations for the wetland and the process to design and permit the first water treatment wetland for phosphorous reduction. This will include reviewing the completed regulatory processes and the timescale involved in undertaking the work.

We will then hear from the three PhD students who will tell us about their research findings and the additional research that needs to be carried out in the future.

Victoria Hussey will relate her results on nutrient cycling within the wetland and how we can optimise wetland management to reduce harmful effluents being discharged into freshwaters. Then Franek Bydalek will tell us about his research on pathogen recycling and microplastics, outlining the monitoring analysis. And our final speaker, Emma Robertson Vaughan, will describe her research findings on emerging contaminants, focusing primarily on pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

Part of the CIWEM Land & Water Management digital series.

Booking and joining information

This event is open to members and non-members of CIWEM.

This webinar will be hosted on the Zoom platform and will be recorded. Please note that registrations will close 24 hours before the event starts. If you have not registered before that time, unfortunately we cannot add you to the event. You will receive an email with joining instructions after you have successfully registered for the webinar and the registration has been approved by our team. If you have any questions about your booking or would like to cancel your attendance, please contact barbara.woods@ciwem.org.

Please make sure you add this event to your calendar, all you need to do is copy the body text of the joining instruction email, go to your Calendar, create a new calendar appointment, set the start and end date and time, paste the text and click the "Save & Close" button.

If you have any queries about this talk, please contact Lucy George at Lucy.George@wessexwater.co.uk.