Constructed Wetlands to Treat Petroleum Wastewater

Petroleum refining industries extract large volumes of freshwater for the process of refining crude oil. Thus, large volumes of wastewater are generated. These wastewaters contain contaminants that are neurotoxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic. Petroleum-related industries have to comply with strict regulations by regulatory authorities; these have led them to explore many treatment technologies for effluent management. However, conventional wastewater treatment technologies have higher energy and capital requirement than biological treatment systems. In addition, their processes can lead to incomplete decomposition of contaminants which can generate by-products that are often toxic to both humans and the environment. Thus, these by-products require further treatment.