Linking Water Treatment with Wetland Restoration - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 363

FIGURE 18.1 CH2MHILL's Sweetwater Wetlands in Tuscon, Arizona. An example of a
multipurpose wetland park in an arid region for water purification, wildlife enhancement,
and human recreation.
The final type of constructed treatment wetlands is based on subsurface flow (see
chapters 19 and 20). These are either gravel- or soil-based systems where the applied
water flows below ground and through the roots of all the plants. There are a number
of types of these systems but all share in common reliance upon the complex microbial
communities that exist between the soil particles and within the vicinity of the roots.
Subsurface-flow wetlands can look like gardens or like traditional wetlands depend-
ing on the art of the designer and the requirements of the project (Bays 2004).