Overview​

Since 2011 WEEL has been studying the Tres Rios Constructed Wastewater Treatment Wetlands, which are owned operated by the City of Phoenix Water Services Department. While constructed treatment wetlands (CTW's) are well established as an effective and sustainable solution to the issues associated with urban water treatment and reclamation, how these systems operate in aridland environments compared to their more traditional mesic and temperate settings is not well understood. As such, we seek to better understand the ecosystem-scale dynamics of this urban oasis. Located just south of S 91st Ave and W Broadway Road in metropolitan Phoenix, Tres Rios is an accessible and enriching field laboratory for educational research experiences.

Key Findings

1. Plant community diversity appeared to improve the system's ability to remove and retain nitrogen.
2. High atmospheric water losses due to evaporation and transpiration, while originally thought to potentially negatively affect system performance, appear to be enhancing treatment opportunities via a plant-mediated flow-path we are calling a "biological tide."
3. This "biological tide" phenomenon may actually make aridland treatment wetlands as if not more effective in delivering the ecosystem services (nitrogen removal) expected of them than their more mesic counterparts.

Related Products

N.A. Weller, D.L. Childers, L. Turnbull, R.F. Upham, in press. Aridland constructed treatment wetlands I: Macrophyte productivity, community composition and nitrogen uptake. Ecol. Engineering.
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C.A. Sanchez, D.L. Childers, L. Turnbull, R.F. Upham, and N.A. Weller, in press. Aridland constructed treatment wetlands II: Plant mediation of surface hydrology enhances nitrogen removal