The suitability and performance of natural treatment systems, however, depend on source water quality, process conditions applied, hydrogeological conditions and water quality goals to be achieved by treatment. It is expected that with further improvement of these systems and especially by synthesizing suitable hybrids or integrates of soil aquifer treatment (SAT) and constructed wetlands (CW), a comprehensive system for wastewater treatment and reuse can be developed which can be applied for treatment of different types of wastewater, at different-scales and in different regions of the world. NATSYS aims to analyze the knowledge gaps and investigate and contrast the treatment capability of two main soil- and vegetation-based natural systems for wastewater treatment (SAT and CW) and their combinations (hybrid natural treatment system) for the removal of different contaminants (organics, pathogens, nutrients and micropollutants) under different water quality (primary effluent, advanced primary effluent, secondary effluent and grey water) and climatic zones (arid and tropic).



Collaborating institutes: UNESCO-IHE (Netherlands), Universidad del Valle (Colombia), Birzeit University (Palestine), and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia).