water Review Review of Constructed Wetlands for Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Aurora M. Pat-Espadas 1,* , Rene Loredo Portales 1 , Leonel E. Amabilis-Sosa 2, Gloria Gómez 3 and Gladys Vidal 3 1 CONACYT-UNAM Instituto de Geología, Estación Regional del Noroeste (ERNO), Luis D. Colosio y Madrid, 83000 Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico;
[email protected] 2 CONACYT-Instituto Tecnológico de Culiacán, Unidad de Posgrado e Investigación, Av. Juan de Dios Bátiz s/n, 80220 Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico;
[email protected] 3 Engineering and Environmental Biotechnology Group, Environmental Sciences Faculty and EULA-Chile Center, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile;
[email protected] (G.G.);
[email protected] (G.V.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] or
[email protected]; Tel.: +52-662-2175019 (ext. 118); Fax: +52-662-2175340 Received: 11 October 2018; Accepted: 8 November 2018; Published: 19 November 2018 Abstract: The mining industry is the major producer of acid mine drainage (AMD). The problem of AMD concerns at active and abandoned mine sites. Acid mine drainage needs to be treated since it can contaminate surface water. Constructed wetlands (CW), a passive treatment technology, combines naturally-occurring biogeochemical, geochemical, and physical processes. This technology can be used for the long-term remediation of AMD. The challenge is to overcome some factors, for instance, chemical characteristics of AMD such a high acidity and toxic metals concentrations, to achieve efficient CW systems. Design criteria, conformational arrangements, and careful selection of each component must be considered to achieve the treatment. The main objective of this review is to summarize the current advances, applications, and the prevalent difficulties and opportunities to apply the CW technology for AMD treatment.