Wetlands Curb Hog Hormones in Wastewater

Hog-farm operators have begun incorporating constructed wetlands into their wastewater treatments to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent so that it can be spread onto crop fields without causing environmental harm. But until recently, little research had been done to investigate the system's potential to diminish hormones that hogs excrete into wastewater.

A research team from the ARS Biosciences Research Laboratory conducted a study that investigated the ability of a constructed wetland to remove reproductive hormones from wastewater at a Greensboro hog-farrowing facility. The wetland consisted of marsh areas with cattails and pond area, which was either open or covered with floating mats of vegetation. By analyzing the effluent both before and after passing through the constructed wetlands, the researchers determined the wetlands reduced estradiol activity by 83 to 93 percent. 

http://www.waterandwastewater.com/www_services/news_center/publish/article_001161.shtml  Water & Wastewater -- January 3, 2007