Eric Ellman 1
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has taken numerous steps to keep abreast of a dramatic increase in demand for Constructed Wetlands (CW) wastewater treatment technology. The Arizona Guidance Manual for Constructed Wetlands for Water Quality Improvement, a manual to assist engineers in designing treatment facilities as well as the regulators who will review those plans, has been recently issued. Other documents providing design criteria for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as well as the certification process for granting Aquifer Protection Permits (APPs), are being revised with the intention of streamlining a historically cumbersome process. ADEQ is supporting independent research on groundwater quality impacts beneath an unlined CW treating raw effluent and is conducting an inventory of existing and pending CW treatment facilities around the State.
