Initial efficiency of a bamboo grove–based treatment system for winery wastewater

The contamination of the water resource is a critical environmental issue. PHYTOREM1, a French company specialized in phytoremediation, has patented an innovative technology using temperate bamboos to treat wastewater. The latter is evenly spread over a bamboo grove and supplies water and nutrients for plant growth. The bamboo grove produces new culms each year and mature culms can be harvested and processed in wood or energy industries. The present experiment demonstrates the contaminant removal efficiency of a bamboo grove composed of three bamboo species. During 2 years winery wastewater was spread over a bamboo plot. Nutrient status of leachate was evaluated, and the results from the treatment plot did not show any difference compared to the control. This experiment showed that 99% of the organic matter and 98% of the nutrients were removed by the soil–bamboo system.

Bamboo grove stations can be considered as an infiltration area designed for phytohydraulic control, phytoextraction and/or phytodegradation of contaminants from wastewater [2]. The results observed for a 2-year experiment suggest that the soil–bamboo system can treat winery wastewater and that the bamboo grove treatment system has high contaminant removal efficiency. Overall, 99% of the organic matter and 98% of the nutrients spread over the bamboo grove were treated. In addition, water losses by infiltration were extremely low and confirm the necessity of carefully sizing stations to meet the needs of the bamboo grove and the needs of treatment (discharge standards) in given soil-climate conditions.