Jacky and all on the list:

I'm new on this list, so a quick introduction is in order -

Some colleagues and I set up Watershed Systems Ltd, based in Edinburgh, to design and build natural waste water treatment systems, and in particular to take on the UK license for Living Machines.  We do a full range of lagoons, reed beds and Living Machine systems for domestic, municipal and industrial effluents, surface and storm water, landfill leachate and lake restoration.

With regard to the current discussion on Living Machines, I believe the important point to bear in mind is that they are intensified wetland systems, not less-intensive activated sludge systems.  The inspired notion that one can design and manage contained ecosystems as tools to perform useful work lays the foundation for a whole new body of research, and today's Living Machines represent the infancy of this technology.

Questions such as how aquatic ecosystems break down complex organic compounds, e.g. oestrogen mimics, how they remove pathogens, and the fate of viruses and metals through a range of different ecosystems / plant and invertebrate species will have to be examined.  My hunch is that they will tend to be more efficient, more robust, and more thorough than equivalent so-called conventional systems.

Nutrient removal is another key one to assess:  some media like calcified seaweed are remarkable, and when incorporated into a Living Machine, the effect could be significantly improved.

Regards,

Angus Marland