Pioneers of Nature-Based Solutions for Wastewater Treatment

At J&S Engineers, we know how to purify wastewater and we have successfully been doing that for more than 30 years now. Starting off with small and medium-scale solutions, today we lead international projects for large-scale systems, treating wastewater for up to 25.000 people. Our design know-how includes complete multi-stage treatment plants, applying nature-based solutions as the core technology. In addition to high technical efficiency, ecology, biodiversity, and social development are important aspects of our design approach.

Constructed Wetland (CW) Technology offers low-tech and robust purification processes with moderate energy demand and ease of operation. The Vertical-Flow configuration is our preferred solution and presents the principal secondary treatment stage in our designs. This modification has been established over the last two decades as the technology of choice for having advantages in efficiency, aeration, and clogging-resilience over horizontal-flow designs. As a final treatment stage, we often opt to apply a naturally designed free-flow CW for water polishing. Besides purification effects, this stage creates valuable habitats for insects, reptiles, and birds. After this stage, the purified wastewater can safely be used for irrigation, supporting local agriculture. As an additional benefit, flowers can be grown on the vertical-flow filters for sale, providing economic opportunities. In urban areas where space is limited, CWs can be integrated into parks, generating irrigation water where it is needed. You can find more detailed information about the mentioned topics in the articles linked below.

Nowadays, we are working with modernized and innovative solutions, for example in sustainable architecture, where we apply on-site greywater treatment and water reuse for irrigation of facade vegetation or green roofs. Incredible benefits are reached if the wastewater is treated directly on the green roof itself! Besides the very efficient use of space, high evaporation rates help acclimatize the building and improve the local urban climate, reducing the urban heat-island effect.

Today, we are a team of 10 engineers headquartered in Germany with a permanent presence in Mexico, Paraguay, and Argentina. In our more than three decades of activity, we have completed over 1.000 projects in more than 20 countries.

The fusion of human engineering capacity with the power of nature is our mission.

We strongly believe in the nature-based engineering approach to achieve efficient and modern solutions for our clients. That means balancing economic, social, and ecological costs and benefits and ensuring our infrastructure has a long lifespan. Our low-tech approach seeks minimal use of technology. We create robust conditions for microbiology to do their invisible work in the purification process year-round in a wide temperature range. We are sure that we have many useful tools and solutions to face future challanges with optimism.

If you are interested in implementing a Constructed Wetland System in your region, please contact us; we would be happy to hear from you.