Carbon footprint of constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment

The aim of this study was to estimate the carbon footprint (CFP) of constructed wetlands for winery wastewater treatment. In particular, a constructed wetland scenario was compared to the previous scenario (third-party management) and to an activated sludge system. CFP considered both indirect and direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions measured on-site. Moreover, an economic analysis of the considered scenarios was also addressed. The results showed that the constructed wetland scenario had the lowest CFP (1.2 kg CO2eq mwater-3), while the third-party management was the worst scenario (52 kg CO2eq mwater-3) followed by the activated sludge system (4.5 kg CO2eq mwater-3). This was mainly due to the high GHG emissions generated by wastewater and sludge transportation as well as chemicals and electricity consumption in the third-party and activated sludge scenarios compared to the constructed wetlands. In terms of costs, the constructed wetland system was shown to be a low-cost technology which would reduce the capital, operation and maintenance costs associated with winery wastewater treatment up to 50% and 98%, respectively. Finally, constructed wetlands are low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies which constitute a sustainable alternative to conventional solutions for winery wastewater treatment.

This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Interreg V-B SUDOE programme, WETWINE SOE1/P5/E0300). Laura Flores is grateful to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MECD) (Spain) for the FPU16/01491 scholarship. Joan García, Marianna Garfí and Laura Flores are grateful to the Government of Catalonia (Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1029). Marianna Garfí acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RYC-2016-20059). The authors are grateful for the support provided by the WETWINE consortium and the wineries involved in this study.

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (author's final draft)