Carlos A Arias

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Verified

Carlos verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Aarhus University

Purpose Develop a conceptual model for the training of Chilean engineers in the construction field that considers the facultative symbiosis between sustainable construction (SC) and nature-based solutions (NBS). Design/methodology/approach This study aims to develop conceptual model for the training of Chilean engineers in the construction field t...

Mercury is classified as one of the world’s most toxic and dangerous pollutants as it tends to bioaccumulate and biomagnify within the trophic chain and is persistent. Various approaches are available to remediate Hg-affected sites including phytoremediation, which includes the use of plants to clean up contaminated environments. The phytoremediati...

In this paper, we propose a least-change secant algorithm to solve the generalized complementarity problem indirectly trough its reformulation as a nonsmooth system of nonlinear equations using a one-parametric family of complementarity functions. We present local and superlinear convergence results of new algorithm and analyze its numerical perfor...

The objective of this study was to design a university-level course focused on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for water pollution control. The work unfolded in three phases: the initial planning, course delivery, and assessment of learning outcomes. In the planning phase, a set of competencies was outlined using the Developing a Curriculum Method (DA...

This study comparatively evaluated effluent reuse from two TWs—a horizontal subsurface flow (HF) and a vertical subsurface flow (VF)—used for rural wastewater treatment in Central Chile during the initial operation stage. The two TWs were planted with Zantedeschia aethiopica and were operated for 10 months at a pilot scale. The water quality of the...

Mercury is classified as one of the world’s most toxic and dangerous pollutants. It tends to bio-accumulate and biomagnify within the trophic chain and is persistent. Various approaches are available to remediate Hg-affected sites, including phytoremediation, which includes the use of plants to clean up contaminated environments. Phytoremediation o...

The present study presents the first attempt to demonstrate the online monitoring of components responsible for odor sensation from a constructed wetland (CW) utilized in treating combined sewer overflow (CSO). An experimental CSO treatment plant located in the south of Chile, employing a vertical flow (VF) CW, was monitored. The components respons...

In this paper, we propose a Jacobian smoothing inexact Newton-type algorithm for solving the nonlinear complementarity problem by reformulating it as a system of nonlinear equations. We show that the algorithm converges up to q -quadratically and present numerical experiments that show its good local performance. In order to compare in terms of tim...

The use of constructed wetlands (CWs) is one of the best options to treat wastewater. In CWs, microorganisms play a major role in the degradation of organic pollutants but the concentration of nutrients, surfactant, and aeration (NSA) in oil-contaminated water is one of the factors that affect the persistence and metabolic functioning of hydrocarbo...

Engineered wetland systems (EWS) are globally recognized as efficient wastewater treatment solutions with the potential for sustainable biomass production. The need arises to understand hydrothermal carbonization's (HTC) potential in nutrient and resource recovery from this biomass. While willows are well-studied in bioenergy, their utility in HTC...

The hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCH) are long-banned pesticides. Even though their use has been prohibited for decades, their presence in the environment is still reported worldwide. Wetland + is a registered trademark of the remedial treatment technology consisting of an aerobic sedimentary tank, a permeable reactive barrier, a biosorption syst...

Over the past few decades, the increase in dependency on healthcare facilities has led to the generation of large quantities of hospital wastewater (HWW) rich in chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia, recalcitrant pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), and other disease-causing microorganisms. Conventional treatmen...

The influence of bed depth on the performance of aerated horizontal constructed wetlands was investigated at the pilot plant scale. Two horizontal flow subsurface constructed wetlands (HF) intensified units of different bed depth (HF1: 0.90 m and HF2: 0.55 m, 0.8 m and 0.5 m water level, respectively) were fitted with forced aeration, while a third...

Coffee is one of the most important agricultural products in Colombia. To date, small-scale Colombian coffee growers have developed this activity with a simple infrastructure and random use of water that generates harmful by-products to the water resource mainly in the stage of separation of the mucilage. The coffee mucilage wastewater (CMW) is com...

This study was set up to observe the mode of T.Coli, F.Coli, and E.coli removal from real municipal wastewater via sand bed filter implementing different grain sizes as well as loading rate adjustment. Additionally, some standard water parameters were likewise analyzed and associated.

In many Indian regions, increased wastewater is both a threat to public health and the environment, but it also presents an opportunity as a source of water and nutrients. With less than one-third of India’s wastewater treated and an alarming water scarcity situation, efficient wastewater treatment and reuse schemes are needed to face impending wat...

In many Indian regions increased wastewater is both a threat and an opportunity. Efficient wastewater treatment and reuse schemes are needed in India to face impending water and fertiliser shortages. This study explores the application potential of wastewater fertigated Short Rotation Coppice systems (wfSRC) as a cost-efficient and promising soluti...

This work aimed to evaluate the performance of modified vertical flow treatment wetlands (VF-TWs) in terms of depth and medium to assess the effect of the feeding/resting periods and footprint (FP). The modifications were proposed for treating domestic wastewater in rural areas with flow variations such as tourist sites. The experimental setup incl...

Actualmente hay 2.400 millones de personas sin saneamiento avanzando y 2.100 millones más, con saneamiento inadecuado (es decir, las aguas residuales drenan directamente a las aguas superficiales sin tratamiento) y, a pesar de las mejoras que han ocurrido en las últimas décadas, la gestión de descargas fecales y de aguas residuales siguen generando...

The management and disposal of wastewater treatment sludge can be a costly and resource-intensive process. To provide a cost-effective and sustainable alternative, Sludge Treatment Wetlands (STW) have emerged as a viable solution for enhancing sludge quality through dewatering and biodegradation. In this study, the effectiveness of a full-scale STW...

Treatment wetlands have proven to be an effective technology for treating wastewater in tropical regions due to their capacity to treat a wide range of polluted waters from different origins and compositions. Additionally, treatment wetlands can provide ancillary benefits beyond the removal of pollutants, including leisure, education, conservation,...

This research evaluated the oxygen transfer efficiency in beds to be used as aerated con- structed wetlands. The research methods included oxygen transfer efficiency evaluations in several bed configurations using diffused aeration systems. Experiments were conducted at two locations with different environmental conditions: a) Talca (Chile), 120 m...

The Atacama Desert situated along the northern Chile is known as the driest desert in the world. For several years, the Research and Development Center in Water Resources (CIDERH), Arturo Prat University has been promoting applied research to encourage the use of wetlands for treating polluted waters in this unique environment and its communities....

The wine industry produces large quantities of wastewater that often contains high levels of organic matter and nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorous. In particular, nitrogen pollution can be harmful, even at low levels, since infants are vulnerable to nitrates in drinking water, and excess nitrogen can harm the health of soils and waterways. He...

Biofilter systems coupling with microbial electrochemical technology can enhance the removal performance of pollutants. In this study, two types of coke (PK-A and PK-LSN) were used as electroconductive substrates in biofilter systems with silicone tubings. The results showed that the silicone tubings were beneficial for removing NH4⁺-N. The PK-A sy...

As part of the effort to improve design and operation schemes of decentralized wastewater systems, the Danish EPA funded a research initiative, to re-evaluate the Danish guidelines for VFCW with an aim to improve its design. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the effect of recycling water from the effluent of the VFCW to the pump chamber...

Vegetated filters based on short-rotation coppice (SRC) can be used to treat various industrial and municipal wastewater while producing valuable biomass in an economical and sustainable way, showing potential in the field of pollution control and bio-based circular economy. This study provides an overview of the state of the art in wastewater-fert...

Energy demand currently is mostly satisfied by the use of fossil fuels that present not only problems for the environment, but also are not renewable. Dark fermentation (DF) is a biological process that can provide an alternative to meet energy needs. The use of industrial effluents from carbon-rich waters in the production of hydrogen and volatile...

A METland is an innovative treatment wetland (TW) that relies on the stimulation of electroactive bacteria (EAB) to enhance the degradation of pollutants. The METland is designed in a short-circuit mode (in the absence of an external circuit) using an electroconductive bed capable of accepting electrons from the microbial metabolism of pollutants....

The aim of the research was to evaluate the response of three tropical species (Heliconia psittacorum, Ciperus haspan, Hedychium coronarium), respect their tolerance and removal capacity of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), namely acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, methyl hydrojasmonate (cis – MDJM), galaxolide, tonalide, caffeine, n...

(1) Phosphorus (P) removal has proven difficult in decentralized wastewater treatment systems, and external filters installed with a highly P sorbent material have been proposed to improve the P removal. In particular, calcium (Ca) rich materials have shown promising results. (2) Eight materials (five calcareous materials, one quartz sand, and two...

Reclamation of treated wastewater is considered a viable option for reducing the agricultural and national water deficit, especially in Mediterranean-type and arid climatic conditions. Given that Chile is a country around 40% of whose territory is classified as semi-arid and desert and 20% as Mediterranean, with serious water scarcity problems, and...

Decentralized water reuse in cities is a prominent alternative to mainstream top-down models for urban water treatment, which are based on centralized, linear dynamics of resource management. In this sense, Nature-based Solutions (“green” technologies) coupled with advanced technologies (“grey” technologies) constitute a promising approach for fome...

The use of constructed wetlands (CWs) is a promising approach for the remediation of hydrocarbon-polluted wastewater. The amendments of CWs with nutrients, surfactants, and aeration enhances the removal of pollutants from wastewater. The objective of the present study was to explore the effect of external stimulants, i.e., nutrients, surfactant, an...

(1) Phosphorus (P) removal has proven difficult in decentralized wastewater treatment systems, and P binding material, installed as an external filter, has been proposed for improving P removal. Especially, calcium (Ca)-rich materials have shown promising results. (2) Five calcareous materials were tested with isotherm batch experiments. The materi...

The potential of using the biomass of four wetland plant species (Iris pseudacorus, Juncus effusus, Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia) grown in treatment wetland systems and under natural conditions were tested to produce high-value materials using hydro-thermal liquefaction (HTL). The results show that the wetland plants biomass is suitable...

El concepto de economía circular implica que las zonas rurales de Chile incrementen el tratamiento de sus aguas servidas con tecnologías sostenibles y reutilicen sus efluentes para tener una fuente de agua alternativa para riego. Así, este trabajo evaluó el potencial de reutilización en riego, de los efluentes a dos humedales construidos (HC) aplic...

Different wetland plants were evaluated regarding their potential to be used in further green biorefining platforms to produce soluble protein and cellulose-textile fibers. The results show a higher protein content in the plants grown in treatment wetland conditions, compared with the same species grown in natural conditions, and diverse effect on...

Since 2010 at the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, the research group in Water and Energy (AyE) has been developing different studies to understand the production of biohydrogen as a type of biomass energy from wastewater treatment. This document presents a compilation of these experiences, as well as the main findings and the challenges in this...

In this work, we have evaluated the impact of intermittent induced aeration in total nitrogen (TN), ammonia (NH4-N) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) removal in four pilot-scale vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCW) (two aerated two non-aerated) using cork by-product or gravel as the filter material and planted with Phragmites australis. Both aerate...

The main objective of this study was to apply multivariate analysis, such as principal component analysis (PCA), to determine the influence of water quality parameters on the removal of triclosan (TCS) and ibuprofen (IB) in vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands (VSSFs). For this purpose, two VSSFs were operated under TCS and IB concentratio...

To valorise winery treated wastewater and to produce suitable water for the irrigation of vineyards, or other factory operations, the WETWINE project set up a combination of a hydrolytic up-flow sludge blanket (HUSB) reactor and constructed wetlands (CW). The WETWINE plant is located in Tomiño (Pontevedra, Spain) and is being validated at the demo-...

This work compares the performance of vertical subsurface flow treatment wetlands (VSSF TWs) for wastewater treatment, planted with Zantedeschia aethiopica (Za), here operated simultaneously under two different climate conditions, arid and Mediterranean. The experimental setup was divided into two treatment lines for each climate condition: three V...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of vertical subsurface flow treatment wetlands (VSSF TWs) for treating rural domestic wastewater when strategies such as bed depth reduction and media change are used in combination with bottom saturation. Two treatment wetland systems were implemented: normal (VF-N), with a bed depth of 1.0 m, a...

(1) Phosphorus (P) is an essential plant nutrient, and P deficiency negatively affects plant growth and development. Furthermore, P is a finite and nonrenewable resource, and there is an urgent need to recover P from some of the important waste streams in society. Newly engineered calcareous materials (sol–gel coated cat litter (CATSAN®)) can bind...

El primer Reporte Cientifico y Tecnológico (STR, por sus siglas del inglés, Scientific and Technical Report) sobre la tecnología de humedales fue publicado en el 2000. Con el desarrollo exponencial de la tecnología desde entonces, la generación de un nuevo STR fue desarrollada por el Grupo de trabajo de la IWA sobre la integración de la tecnología...

Humedales para tratamiento es el séptimo volumen de la serie “Tratamiento biológico de aguas residuales” (en inglés “Biological Waste Water Treatment Series”), que provee una presentación de vanguardia sobre la ciencia y tecnología del tratamiento de aguas residuales. Los principales tipos de sistemas de humedales son tratados en este volumen, a sa...

The aim of this work is to evaluate the reuse of municipal wastewaters treated through subsurface constructed wetlands (SS-CWs) as irrigation water in cut flower aeroponic cultivation under arid conditions. For this purpose, two experimental aeroponic cultivation systems were installed with the cut flower Lilium ‘Tresor’ planted and irrigated with...

Sediments and invertebrates were sampled from 9 stormwater retention ponds (SWRPs) and 11 natural, shallow lakes in Denmark. Samples were analyzed for 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The SWRPs received urban and highway runoff from various types of drainage areas and the lakes were located in areas of various land uses. Comparing PAHs i...

The review aims to report the state-of-the-art constructed wetlands (CW) in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region not limited to national and local conditions. The aim is with a broader view, to bring updated and sufficient information, to facilitate the use of the CW technology in the different countries of LAC. Thus, 520 experiences extrac...

This study aims to evaluate the sorption characteristics of NH + 4-N and PO 3− 4-P onto the surface of natural zeolites coming from Chile and their potential application in the subsurface-flow treatment wetlands for wastewater treatment in rural areas. For this purpose, adsorption experiments onto the zeolite were developed in batch assays. The eff...

Increasing water scarcity is of growing concern in Europe, especially in Mediterranean countries along coastlines. Wastewater reuse reduces water stress, but often requires the absence of pathogen indicators and the application of chlorine to assure residual disinfection. However, the effluent qualities of typical Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP)...

The performance of constructed wetlands (CW) can be enhanced through the use of microbial electrochemical technologies like METland systems. Given its novelty, uncertainties exist regarding processes responsible for the pollutant removal and microbial activity within the systems. Genetic characterization of microbial communities of METlands is desi...

Constructed Wetlands (CWs) are low-cost and sustainable systems for wastewater treatment. Traditionally they have been used for urban and domestic wastewater treatment, but in the last two decades, the applications for industrial wastewater treatment increased due to the evolution of the technology and the extended research on the field. Nowadays,...

El propósito de este trabajo fue determinar la capacidad de eliminación de amonio (-N) mediante procesos de adsorción, empleando zeolita como material adsorbente, para proyectar su aplicación como soporte en sistemas de humedales construidos. Para esto se realizaron pruebas de adsorción a escala de laboratorio, interrelacionando dos cantidades de z...

Phosphorus (P) is a limited resource and can promote eutrophication of water streams and acidification of oceans when discharged. Crushed autoclaved aerated concrete (CAAC), a by-product from demolition, has shown great potential for recovering P. The potential of CAAC to be used in nature-based solutions as a P-reactive filter medium was evaluated...

Diesel oil spills may considerably damage the environment, especially the sensitive coastal areas and oil drilling sites. A serie of laboratory experiments were conducted for 60 days on diesel oil spiked (2% v/v) intensified wetlands (IW), planted with Phragmites australis. In the experiments the IW were externally assisted with aeration, surfactan...

In economic terms, Latin American countries (LACs) can be classified as “Upper or Lower-middle income countries” (World Bank, 2018). Regarding to sanitation data, only 20% of the municipal wastewater is treated (Hernández-Padilla et al., 2017). Therefore, the new treatment facilities in LACs should be shifting towards solutions, which are resource...

The role of the engineer in Sustainable Construction goes beyond the realization of construction projects (Valdes et al, 2018). Latin-American countries have to develop and implement new solutions in order to fill the gap of existing infrastructure for urban water management (Noyola et al., 2012). In this regard, the future of technology for urban...

Ten plant species were grown in constructed wetlands (CWs) to remediate water containing 2% (w/v) crude oil. The plant species with better growth and biomass production were Typha latifolia and Cyperus laevigatus, and they were significantly correlated (R² = 0.91) with hydrocarbon degradation. From T. latifolia and C. laevigatus, 33 hydrocarbon-deg...

The aim of the present study was to elucidate the microbial community metabolic profiles in saturated constructed wetland (CW) mesocosms planted with five different wetland plant species fed with water individually spiked with 100 μg L−1 ibuprofen or iohexol. Community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) using Biolog Ecoplates was performed and co...

Agricultural practices have raised the level of nutrients reaching aquifers. In Europe, nitrate pollution is considered as one of the main threats for the quality of groundwater in agricultural areas. Treatment wetlands (TWs), also known as Constructed Wetlands, are used for groundwater treatment in areas with an important concentration of nitrogen...

El clima organizacional ha sido definido como el conjunto de percepciones y sentimientos compartidos que los funcionarios desarrollan en relación con las características de su entidad, tales como políticas, prácticas y procedimientos formales e informales y las condiciones de la misma, como por ejemplo el estilo de dirección. El objetivo fue identi...

Constructed wetlands (CWs) performance enhancement can be done with intensification strategies. A recent strategy still in study is the coupling with Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (MET). An alternative system using electro-conductive biofilters instead of electrodes and circuits used in MET, resulted in the development of a Microbial Elect...

The performance enhancement of constructed wetlands can be achieved through the coupling with microbial electrochemical technologies (MET). MET is a setup designed to mimic metabolic electrons exchange with insoluble donors and acceptors with the aid of electroactive bacteria and external electrical circuits. An alternative MET that dispenses of el...

The aim of the present work was to evaluate and compare the performance in the removal of pathogenic microbes in four different types of decentralized wastewater treatment systems, namely: horizontal flow constructed wetlands (HFCW), vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCW), biological sand filters (BSF) and biofilters (BF). All the systems analyz...

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are an eco-friendly and cost-effective technology to remove organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) from wastewater. The support matrix is an important component in CWs as it has a primary role in the growth and development of plants and microbes. However, the roles of the support matrix in CWs in removing OMPs have not been syst...

The present study was conducted to treat primary and secondary treated sewage for its reuse in irrigation, soil enrichment and aquaculture activities. The study involves treatment of this sewage through a subsurface horizontal gravity-fed gravel filter bed with an area of 35 m². The effluent was then subjected to filtration by zeolite medium and di...

Microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) rely on the presence of the metabolic activity of electroactive bacteria for the use of solid-state electrodes for oxidizing different kinds of compound that can lead to the synthesis of chemicals, bioremediation of polluted matrices, the treatment of contaminants of interest, as well as the recovery of...

Reusing by-products is an important strategy to ensure the preservation of natural capital and climate change mitigation. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of cork granulates, a by-product of winery industry, as an organic carbon (OC) source for the treatment of hydroponic wastewaters. First, chemical characterization was performed and d...

Microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) rely on the presence of the metabolic activity of electroactive bacteria for the use of solid-state electrodes for oxidizing different kind of compound, that could lead to the synthesis of chemicals, bioremediation of polluted matrices, the treatment of contaminants of interest, as well as the recovery o...

Design variants for constructed wetlands now span from completely passive systems to moderately engineered systems up to highly engineered or intensified systems. Design and operational modifications recently developed mainly aim at improving subsurface oxygen availability and achieving a suitable combination of oxic and anoxic conditions. VF CWs h...