World-first trial finds floating wetlands can cut greenhouse gas emissions

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🗞️ Driving the news: A world-first two-year trial on Phillip Island, Victoria, found floating wetlands cut greenhouse gas emissions from a wastewater lagoon by about 30% on average
• The 330-square-metre platform, planted with native reeds and sedges, reduced CO2 by up to 36%, methane by up to 66% and nitrogen by 18% against a control lagoon
• The study was run by RMIT University, Westernport Water and CSIRO

🔭 The context: Plant roots hanging into the water create habitat for microbes that break down organic matter and absorb nutrients and pollutants
• Emissions from the 14-million-litre lagoon were monitored continuously over two years using solar-powered sensors
• RMIT research fellow Lukas Schuster says the trial's scale mattered for testing whether the approach works in a real treatment setting

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Wastewater treatment produces roughly 700 million tonnes of greenhouse gases globally each year, around one million tonnes in Victoria alone, and reducing emissions from open lagoons has proved difficult
• The methane result carries particular weight given its short-term warming potency
• The barrier to adoption is usually low because the platforms could be retrofitted into existing lagoons without major infrastructure changes

⏭️ What's next: Researchers are testing floating wetlands across different environments and scales, including farm dams across the Bass Coast for water quality, biodiversity and emissions
• Water companies have expressed interest in further trials, and future work will examine PFAS and other pollutant removal, plus replacing plastic-based baskets with recycled or plant-based materials

💬 One quote: "Reducing those emissions is very tricky, but it's a very important step that we show basically that we can reduce emissions in open lagoons" — Dr Lukas Schuster, research fellow, RMIT Centre for Nature Positive Solutions

📈 One stat: Methane emissions down up to 66%, with roughly 700 million tonnes of greenhouse gases produced by wastewater treatment globally each year

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