Capacity of Freshwater Marsh to Process Nitrate in Diverted Mississippi River Water

6 Capacity of Freshwater Marsh to Process Nitrate IN Diverted Mississippi River Water 

Denitrification was shown to be a major process in removing nitrate in diverted river water (Yu et al 2006). The capacity of freshwater marsh to remove all nitrate in the diverted river water was strongly influenced by the flow or discharge rate (DeLaune et al 2005). The ponded wetland did not completely remove the nitrate in river water at high flow or discharge ( 100 m s ). On the basis of mass balance calculation using concentration difference between inlet and outlet, the system removed the nitrate-N at the rate of approximately 60 mg N m day or approximately 

000 kg nitrate-N day for the 3,700 ha marsh. The study clearly showed that freshwater marsh can effectively remove nitrate in river water. However, the discharge or pulsing rate is important in determining removal rate in freshwater marsh or amount of nitrate passing through the system entering lakes and other water bodies in Barataria Basin. 

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