Given that we still aren't having much in the way of rain or amphibians I've decided to introduce the H-02 wetland system and will then spend a few entries talking about them and what we've got going on there. Constructed wetlands can be used to prevent contaminants from getting into the rivers and streams. At one spot on the Savannah River Site the storm water and process water coming out of an industrial facility was found to have too much copper and zinc, more than the EPA allows. In 2007 a constructed wetland was created to remove the metals from the water. The metals stick to the clay particles and organic matter (bits of dead and decaying plants and animals) and a suite of bacteria help move the metals from the water to the soils. The H-02 wetland on site does a great job of this, by the time the water leaves the wetland and heads into to the stream system most of the zinc and copper are removed. Just another way wetlands rock. The wetland also tends to attract amphibians because it's a permanent body of water without fish. Many amphibian species can't reproduce where fish live--the fish eat them--so the constructed wetland is pretty attractive. The Savannah River Ecology Lab has been studying many aspects of the H-02 wetland since it was built. over the next series of entries I'll start sharing the different work we've been doing and what we've learned from these wetlands.
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