Constructed wetlands for treating domestic wastewater: a comparative analysis of life cycle costs

Abstract Due to the lack of basic sanitation in Brazil, many households use decentralised treatment of their wastewater. Therefore it is important to analyse the costs of wastewater treatment alternatives. A life cycle cost assessment was performed to evaluate the cost of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment, comparing three scenarios with the most commonly used configurations. Scenario 1 consisted of a real scale wastewater treatment plant composed of a septic tank and a vertical flow constructed wetland with effluent recirculation to a septic tank, located in south of Brazil. The other two scenarios were created: scenario 2 was formed by a vertical flow constructed wetland and scenario 3 consisted of a septic tank, a vertical flow constructed wetland and a horizontal flow constructed wetland. The results showed that the net present value of the life cycle cost were decreasing for scenarios 1, 2 and 3. Scenario 3 presented lower life cycle cost. Scenario 1 had the poorest performance in the analysis, however, due to the recirculation of the wastewater this was the best performance in environmental terms. Due to the fact that life cycle cost analysis takes into account the cost throughout the life cycle of each scenario, it proved to be an important and suitable tool to help choosing the lowest cost treatment type.