ArticleWater environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation2025
Wetlands as a solution to water browning: A 3-year efficiency assessment of outdoor mesocosms.
Article in Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Wetlands as a solution to water browning: A 3-year efficiency assessment of outdoor mesocosms.Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Water browning is the phenomenon of increasing discoloration in lakes and water courses due to the leaching of organic matter from soils. This process has ecological, economic, and social implications, such as affecting light penetration, oxygen levels, nutrient cycling, drinking water quality, and recreational use. This study investigated the potential of wetlands as a natural solution to mitigate water browning by reducing organic matter and iron. Six mesocosms in pilot scale were set up and studied for 3 years for their efficiency to reduce water color, with sampling every 14th day. Parameters measured were the changes in water color, dissolved organic carbon, iron, pH, and conductivity over 3 years, under different hydrological and climatic conditions. The results showed that wetlands can decrease water browning by retaining organic matter and iron, especially in vegetated systems. This study showed that long retention times with vegetated shallow systems were needed to reduce the water color by 47%. The decrease of color was primarily due to reduction of iron that decreased by 66%, while the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration decreased by only 6%. These findings highlight the potential of constructed wetlands as a valuable tool for improving water quality and mitigating the impacts of water browning, though further optimization of wetland design and integration with broader land-use strategies is needed to address this complex issue effectively. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Constructed wetlands can mitigate brownification, especially with long retention times and shallow vegetated wetlands. Iron reduction is more strongly correlated with colour reduction than with DOC reduction. Vegetated constructed wetlands reduced the colour concentration of inflow water by 47% after a 14-day retention time. Wetlands need a long retention time to reduce colour, and should be placed far upstream in the watershed. Vegetated systems may use alternative pathways, like biofilm formation, to reduce humic substances, independent of UV exposure.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.