The Iron Bridge Wastewater Reclamation Facility can claim several firsts. It was one of the world’s largest treatment plants to use rotating biological contactors (RBCs) for BOD removal and first in the United States to use RBCs for denitrification. But its best-known feature is the world’s first large-scale tertiary treatment constructed wetland — which doubles as a hugely popular recreation stop.Built in 1987 on the site of a former dairy farm, the 1,650-acre wetland helped the City of Orlando, Fla., meet a mandate to lower nutrient discharges at a time when population was increasing and the 24 mgd capacity of
