Date of Award

5-2012

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)

Department

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

Committee Chair(s)

Bo Yang

Committee

Bo Yang

Committee

David L. Bell

Committee

Ryan R. Dupont

Abstract

Municipalities in the Intermountain West are facing water shortages based on their current population growth projections. Utah has the second highest per-capita culinary water use in the United States. Among other cities, Mount Pleasant, Utah, is seeking innovative and cost-effective ways to reduce culinary water use. This study presents a feasibility analysis of and a design for using a free water surface constructed wetland system to treat the city’s wastewater. The study further presents a cost-benefit assessment of using the treated water for landscape irrigation in the city. The study is based on an analysis of existing wastewater quality, local climatic and site biophysical conditions, and future water use projections. The proposed constructed wetland system is composed of two reactors in series: a stabilization lagoon followed by a constructed wetland. The study involves retrofitting the existing wastewater sewage lagoons and designing a constructive wetland and a storage pond for reclaimed water. The study results show that after a relatively long retention time, the overall biochemical oxygen demands will be reduced by 93.6% to 97.8% and the total suspended solids will be reduced by 87.2% to 87.9%. The treated water is sufficient to irrigate approximately 45 acres of turfgrass or 37 acres of pasture grass. In contrast to complex high-maintenance treatment systems, constructed wetlands provide ecologically-sustainable wastewater treatment. For municipalities that are facing similar challenges, this study provides an example of reducing culinary water use and achieving other sustainable development goals by reclaiming and reusing treated wastewater.

Comments

This work made publicly available electronically on December 19, 2012.

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