Hydroponic root mats (HRMs) are ecotechnological wastewater treatment systems where aquatic vegetation forms buoyant filters by their dense interwoven roots and rhizomes, sometimes supported by rafts or other floating materials. A preferential hydraulic flow is created in the water zone between the plant root mat and the bottom of the treatment system. When the mat touches the bottom of the water body, such systems can also function as HRM filter; i.e. the hydraulic flow passes directly through the root zone. HRMs have been used for the treatment of various types of polluted water, including domestic wastewater; agricultural effluents; and polluted river, lake, stormwater and groundwater and even acid mine drainage. This article provides an overview on the concept of applying floating HRM and non-floating HRM filters for wastewater treatment. Exemplary performance data are presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of this technology are discussed in comparison to those of ponds, free-floating plant and soil-based constructed wetlands. Finally, suggestions are provided on the preferred scope of application of HRMs.

College of Resources and Environment Huazhong Agricultural University Shizishan 1 430070 Wuhan China

Department of Environmental Biotechnology Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Permoserstrasse 15 04318 Leipzig Germany

Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira Apartado Aereo 97 Sede la Julita Pereira Colombia

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Department of Landscape Ecology Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 16521 Praha 6 Czech Republic

Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg Institute of Instrumental and Environmental Technology Universitätsplatz 2 39106 Magdeburg Germany

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