 Where did the technology come from? 
The use of wetlands to treat wastewater is not a new idea. Thousands of years ago, natural wetlands were used by the Chinese and by the Egyptians to clarify liquid effluent. However, the first "constructed" wetland was developed in 1904 (in Australia). There are thousands of wetland-based wastewater treatment systems around the world nowadays, ranging from Northern Canada and Sweden to Australia and Indonesia (based on: www.fujitaresearch.com). The past few decades brought new approaches to wastewater treatment. It has been realized that wastewater is a valuable source of nutrients and water, that when utilized enable wetlands to exist or to be created. Scientists dealing with wetlands ecosystems proved that not only natural wetlands but also constructed wetlands can effectively participate in treatment of wastewater rich in nutritious substances. This is why wetlands are now sometimes called the "kidneys of the planet" because of their natural ability to purify nutrients, thus protecting groundwater, surface water bodies and coastlines. This approach turns out not only to be easy to maintain but also is very efficient in turning what was previously "waste" into green plants and reusable water. Wetlands are also lower cost, in that there is far less reliance on complex technology, which is both capital and maintenance-intensive, and uses much electricity/fuel. The use of ecologically constructed wetlands for human sewage treatment relies on the ability of green plants and non-pathogenic microbes rather than expensive machinery. In addition, designed wetlands create a "buffer" ecosystem between the human economy and the environment to mitigate negative impacts, illegal as well as unpleasant and unhealthy which otherwise would endanger our water supplies and thus human health, as well as negatively impacting the environment. 
Wastewater Gardens® technology was developed by Dr. Mark Nelson working in collaboration with the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation (PCRF) (U.S.) and the eminent systems ecologist, Prof. H.T. Odum of the Center for Wetlands at the University of Florida. This innovative approach to wastewater treatment using man-made wetlands, employing high biodiversity and subsurface flow has been extensively tested and successfully applied in the United States and Europe, as well as in a number of tropical countries over the past decade. The Wastewater Garden is a totally ecological design and raises constructed (artificial) wetlands to a complete system.Initial work by Dr. Nelson and the founders of PCRF with constructed wetlands for sewage treatment was in the self-contained experimental facility Biosphere 2 in Arizona. There, working with scientists from NASA, constructed wetlands were developed for the Biosphere 2 Test Module in 1987, and for the closure experiments in Biosphere 2 from 1991-1994.
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