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Circular economy: water quality assessment for irrigation purposes in a constructed-wetland scenario

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Abstract

Water is an essential natural resource that sustains life and ecosystems. However, the increasing pressure on freshwater reserves due to climate change, rapid population growth, and industrialization is exacerbating the issue of water scarcity. In this context, wastewater reuse has emerged as a vital strategy to address water shortage. Also, it supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and aligns with the principles of the circular economy. In this context, phytoremediation appears to be a viable solution that employs plant species to purify water, thereby contributing to water reuse. So, this study focuses on evaluating the feasibility of using treated wastewater from a constructed wetland for irrigation purposes. The investigation involved establishing a comprehensive monitoring plan, including sampling and analytical processes, followed by in situ and laboratory analyses of the collected water samples. The results indicate that the treated wastewater met the quality standards set by National and European legislation for irrigation purposes. Some parameters, such as chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and turbidity, demonstrate high removal efficiencies, with maximum removal efficiencies exceeding 97%. The anions and potentially toxic elements showed very low values, being within the standards for water reuse for irrigation, except ammonium (NH4+), which did not comply with the standards in any of the campaigns. The SAR, with a value of less than 2, was below the maximum recommended value (MRV) of 8. Overall, the findings support the use of treated wastewater from constructed wetlands for irrigation, which offers an effective solution for water reuse and contributes to environmental sustainability.

Data availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge PhytoClean Spin-off and Amares Municipality for their collaboration.

Funding

This research was developed under the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. program, through the project´s reference UID/04683.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Pole of the University of Minho, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, 4710-057, Portugal

    Patrícia Gomes, Marta Pinheiro, José Martins & Teresa Valente

  2. PhytoClean (Native Plants), Amares, 4720, Portugal

    Marta Pinheiro, José Martins & Joel Castro

  3. Landscapes, Heritage and Territory Laboratory (Lab2PT), University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, Guimarães, 4800-058, Portugal

    Vítor Ribeiro

  4. Environmental Division of the Amares Municipality, Largo do Município, Amares, 4720-058, Portugal

    Vítor Ribeiro & Marina Mendes

Authors

  1. Patrícia Gomes
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  2. Marta Pinheiro
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  3. José Martins
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  4. Joel Castro
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  5. Teresa Valente
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  6. Vítor Ribeiro
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  7. Marina Mendes
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Contributions

Conceptualization – Patrícia Gomes; Joel Castro; Vitor Ribeiro; Marina MendesData curation – Marta Pinheiro; Patrícia GomesFormal analysis – Patrícia Gomes; Marta Pinheiro; Teresa ValenteFunding acquisition – Patrícia Gomes; Joel Castro; Teresa ValenteInvestigation – Patrícia Gomes; Marta Pinheiro; José Martins; Joel Castro; Teresa ValenteMethodology – Patrícia Gomes; Teresa ValenteProject administration – Patrícia GomesResources – Patrícia Gomes; Joel Castro; Teresa Valente; Vitor Ribeiro; Marina MendesSupervision – Patrícia GomesValidation – Patrícia Gomes; Teresa ValenteVisualization – Patrícia Gomes; Marta Pinheiro; Teresa ValenteWriting – original draft – Marta Pinheiro; Patrícia GomesWriting – review & editing – Patrícia Gomes; José Martins; Teresa Valente.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to
Patrícia Gomes.

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Gomes, P., Pinheiro, M., Martins, J. et al. Circular economy: water quality assessment for irrigation purposes in a constructed-wetland scenario.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34161-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34161-6

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Phytoremediation
  • Reuse and recycling
  • Non-potable water supply

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