Plants for purification (Plants helping... nature)
Man's progress has led to the invention of systems in which nature can provide solutions offering remedies to environmental problems that man himself has created. The facility that has been created in Parco Pineta (Pinewood Park) represents an attempt at moving in this direction, and it provides an opportunity for discovering and learning more about the system. A unique experience in one of the very few plant purification systems in existence.
Plant purification is a natural process that takes place in marshland areas, where animal and plant organisms perform a series of purification mechanisms utilizing chemical, physical and biological systems. The purification plant located in the village of Pianbosco utilizes this principle, treating sewage from the eastern part of the village. The Parco Pineta (Pinewood Park) authority and the municipality of Venegono Inferiore, with the indispensable support of the Cariplo Foundation, have joined forces to tackle a grave problem of local pollution that represents a threat for water resources.
The structure is principally based on four tanks, designed to enable the unrestricted circulation of water. The soil in the tank provides a substrate for vegetation and performs filtration, while the micro-fauna breaks down the organic content of the liquids, transforming it into nutrients available for use by the plant species contained in the system. The vegetation introduces oxygen into the deepest parts of the tanks by means of their root systems; it absorbs nutrients from the soil and reduces the total quantity of water present.
The educational resources that have been developed for the system make it possible to appreciate the structure's unique characteristics. There is an open-air classroom, all the tanks can be visited, including the final outflow, and there is a path that enables the entire system to be viewed. These are just some of the features enabling the intelligent exploitation of the facility.
The visit is available for groups, on request. It comprises the biological and chemical analysis of water upstream and downstream of the purification process, visits to the sequence of tanks, with a detailed examination of the characteristics of the plant species growing in the tanks, and a visit to the spring bed, with its distinctive traces of erosion.
Plant purification is a natural process that takes place in marshland areas, where animal and plant organisms perform a series of purification mechanisms utilizing chemical, physical and biological systems. The purification plant located in the village of Pianbosco utilizes this principle, treating sewage from the eastern part of the village. The Parco Pineta (Pinewood Park) authority and the municipality of Venegono Inferiore, with the indispensable support of the Cariplo Foundation, have joined forces to tackle a grave problem of local pollution that represents a threat for water resources.
The structure is principally based on four tanks, designed to enable the unrestricted circulation of water. The soil in the tank provides a substrate for vegetation and performs filtration, while the micro-fauna breaks down the organic content of the liquids, transforming it into nutrients available for use by the plant species contained in the system. The vegetation introduces oxygen into the deepest parts of the tanks by means of their root systems; it absorbs nutrients from the soil and reduces the total quantity of water present.
The educational resources that have been developed for the system make it possible to appreciate the structure's unique characteristics. There is an open-air classroom, all the tanks can be visited, including the final outflow, and there is a path that enables the entire system to be viewed. These are just some of the features enabling the intelligent exploitation of the facility.
The visit is available for groups, on request. It comprises the biological and chemical analysis of water upstream and downstream of the purification process, visits to the sequence of tanks, with a detailed examination of the characteristics of the plant species growing in the tanks, and a visit to the spring bed, with its distinctive traces of erosion.
