Water is the basis of all life; it is a chemical substance essential for survival. In recent years water has been very poorly managed which has led to environmental disaster. The mismanagement of water is a global problem which has created billion dollar industry in water management and also water treatment.

 

With constant governmental pressures and initiatives encouraging business to work more environmentally friendly (saving energy, using clean technologies and generally reducing their carbon footprints) opportunities have arisen in the treatment processes of rural wastewater.

 

The most common ways of treating wastewater are by three process wastewater treatment plants and it is a costly process. A different treatment option is Wetland technology; this treats anthropogenic discharge including wastewater, storm runoff and sewage treatment. It provides biological intricacy instead of mechanical complexity e.g. organisms, micro-organisms, animals, soils and plants (Eke, 2005). This different treatment technology is an environmentally friendly economic solution for wastewater treatment.

 

An Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) is a network of specially designed pond systems; their main use is to treat wastewater to a high enough quality so that it can be released into the environment without damaging present ecosystems. Past research has found that ICW (also natural wetlands) efficiently remove nutrients, suspended solids, BOD and COD however not enough is know about the ICW ability to sequester carbon and to stop groundwater contamination. This investigation looks at:

 

          1. Carbon Sequestration in ICW

          2. Groundwater contamination in ICW