Natural Treatment Systems as Sustainable Ecotechnologies for the Developing Countries

Table 1

Typical characteristics of plant species used in constructed wetlands (modified after Crites and Tchobanoglous [170], Reed [171]).

Characteristic	Bulrush	Cattail	Reeds
Distribution	Worldwide	Worldwide	Worldwide
Preferred temperature (°C)	16–27	10–30	12–23
Preferred pH range	4–9	4–10	2–8
Salinity tolerance (ppt*)	20	30	45
Root penetration (m)	≈0.6	≈0.3	≈0.4
Drought resistant	moderate	Possible	high
Growth	Moderate to rapid	Rapid	Very rapid

∗ppt: parts per thousand.