Incorporating visual aesthetics within municipal wastewater treatment wetlands

Abstract

The accepted model for designing treatment wetlands has emphasized the function of nutrient removal. Some treatment wetlands have attempted to incorporate greater ecological function, wildlife habitat, and human uses. Seven case studies were reviewed and the effectiveness their existing visual aesthetic was assessed. This thesis asks the following question: What aesthetic design principles maximize human use within a treatment wetland? The need for this thesis is based on the assumptions that 1) although some treatment wetlands have exhibited some success as recreational areas, full acceptance of wetland parks hasn’t occurred because they have lacked critical aesthetic design principles 2) that synergistic benefits can be seen from interdisciplinary design teams that understand the wide context that wetland creation incorporates; and that 3) as communities embrace treatment wetlands, integration of multifunctional parks will become the model. A conceptual design protocol that promotes aesthetic principles was proposed and applied to the reviewed case studies.