## 4 Conclusions  
The bench-scale SVFCW shows the potential to sufficiently treat winery wastewater under variations in loading rates, frequency, and temperature without the aid of nitrogen adsorption media or a pH buffer. Although this contradicts the original hypothesis that a SVFCW would not provide sufficient treatment without amendments, this represents a more cost-effective solution for small-scale industrial wineries. The bench-scale systems in this study demonstrated removal efficiencies for COD of \(>\)99% under constant loading frequencies and room temperature and with decreased temperatures. Removal efficiencies of 95% and 94% for total nitrogen were observed for constant loading frequencies with room temperature and decreased temperatures, respectively. The effluent concentrations were considerably better than the quality of septic system effluent, allowing for versatility in the final discharge of the treated wastewater. This treatment system is advantageous to other conventional treatment methods due to its minimal surface area requirements, low energy demands, and high treatment performance. SVFCWs require approximately 80% less treatment area than land application, using the permitted Michigan surface loading rate of 50 pounds of BOD\({}_{5}\)/acre/day [80] for land application as an example. In addition to the potential economic benefit from the sale of wetland plants [81], the use of aesthetically pleasing vegetation might be beneficial to wineries where tourism is important. Additionally, SVFCWs are substantially more energy-efficient than activated sludge [7]. Further, the characteristics of the discharged wastewater from SVFCWs are comparable to or better than wastewater treated by conventional methods, such as activated sludge [82]. These benefits make this technology a viable option for implementation at small-scale industrial wineries. The increased effectiveness of the addition of nitrogen adsorption media was unclear and should be further examined with a waste stream that has a more favorable C:N:P ratio. This study demonstrated that nitrogen adsorption media is not required for effective treatment of winery wastewater while using an SVFCW, but that it might enhance SVFCW treatment of wastewaters with higher nitrogen concentrations. The inclusion of the phosphorus adsorption media, PO4 Sponge, was found to be an effective means of removing total phosphorus from winery wastewater to concentrations below 0.102 mg/L. Further study is needed for determining the capacity of the PO4 Sponge for winery wastewater to better understand the frequency of replacing the media. However, research on other waste streams has demonstrated a media adsorption capacity of 50 mg P per gram of media with an initial phosphorus level of 7 mg/L [83]. Additionally, other engineered adsorption media are commercially available, and waste material formulated into adsorption media, such as steel furnace slag, should be evaluated to determine which is best suited for application at a winery [84]. A field demonstration is needed to monitor performance in a diverse environment, determine any additional design and operational considerations, and verify whether clogging will become an issue over time. A previous field study of a similarly designed SVFCW treating milking facility wastewater observed no clogging over five years of monitoring [45]. These observations are consistent with this study, which also did not detect clogging. However, a six-month study is not indicative of the expected performance of a twenty-year treatment system [57], and further research is needed. Additionally, this application was focused in a region where combining domestic wastewater with industrial wastewater is strongly discouraged. However, domestic wastewater could provide a year-round source of substrate to microbial communities in regions where co-treatment is allowed, justifying further investigation. Conceptualization, S.I.S. and S.J.E. ; methodology, K.S., L.R.-G., S.J.E. ; formal analysis, K.S. and S.I.S. ; investigation, K.S. and S.I.S.