Objective: To evaluate some of the main limnological aspects and discuss the relevance of effluent treatment efficacy by the FLs treatment system and provide fundamental information for technicians and environmental managers to make decisions about this type of treatment. Methods: The literature review was used as a methodology, specifically through scientific publications from 2016 to June 2020 on FL and limnology, applied in tropical climates. We selected articles written in Portuguese and English, and we chose to search in free terms, thus promoting a greater number of references on FLs and limnology. Results: The research showed the potential of FLs for the treatment of effluents and their contribution to sustainability. To this end, we show in this article the relevance of the environmental dynamics of FLs, contemplating characteristics related to their aerobic, anerobic, facultative processes, in addition to operational and limnological variables, such as the types of phytoplankton, effectiveness in removing nutrients and contributing to the landscape harmony and biodiversity conservation. We also emphasize that this is fundamental information for the operation and management of FLs. Conclusions: FLs, owing to their operational and limnological characteristics, are a type of favorable effluent treatment system in tropical climates as occurs in Brazil. Investment in this type of system can be favorable to the sustainability and harmony of the landscape, in addition to the fact that the limnological behavior of these ecosystems is favorable to the removal of nutrients, which in turn contributes to environmental conservation and pollution reduction.