In 1999 the Italian Section of the IWA Specialist Group on the Use of Macrophytes in Water Pollution Control was established. This group is collecting data (process, design criteria, plant utilization, removal efficiency, economic and legislative aspects, etc.) from existing plants operating in Italy. Since the 1980’s over one thousand Constructed Wetlands (CWs), both free water and subsurface (horizontal and vertical) flow systems, have been realized in Italy. Most of the facilities are located in the northern and central part of the country.

The Italian section of our IWA Specialist group is committed to conducting a successful event for the 2010 conference. This commitment is supported by the key entities in CWs research and practice in Italy including all the involved Universities and others: University of Padua, University of Venice, University of Catania , University of Pisa, University of Ferrara, University of Florence, Polytechnic of Bari, ENEA, CNR, IRIDRA Srl, PAN Srl.