Redox potential dynamics in a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland for wastewater treatment: Diel, seasonal and spatial fluctuations

Redox potential was measured in a treatment bed of a constructed wetland (CW) with subsurface horizontal flow used for municipal wastewater treatment. CW was situated in the Czech Republic, designed for 150 person equivalents; it was planted with Phragmites australis and put into operation in 2001....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological engineering 2008-10, Vol.34 (3), p.223-232
Main Authors: Dušek, Jiří, Picek, Tomáš, Čížková, Hana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anaerobic conditions
Anaerobic treatment
Constructed wetlands
Construction
Continuous measurement
Crack opening displacement
Dynamical systems
Dynamics
Electrode potentials
Electrodes
Fluctuation
Horizontal
Inflow
Phosphorus
Phragmites australis
Plant roots
Redox potential
Redox processes
Vices
Wastewater treatment
Water flow
Water pollution
Water temperature
Wetlands
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Summary:Redox potential was measured in a treatment bed of a constructed wetland (CW) with subsurface horizontal flow used for municipal wastewater treatment. CW was situated in the Czech Republic, designed for 150 person equivalents; it was planted with Phragmites australis and put into operation in 2001. The system was very efficient in removing organic pollution (BOD 5 82% and COD 74.0%), nitrogen (62.6%), phosphorus (75.4%) and suspended solids (52%). Redox potential ( E H) was measured in two depths (0.2 and 0.5 m) of the treatment bed at regular distances from inflow using platinum electrodes, continuously, every 15 min during a more-than-2-year period (27 months) from 2002 to 2004. E H ranged from −400 to +800 mV. The fluctuations were the most intense in the upper layer (0.2 m) at the furthest distance from inflow (13 m) and E H changed within very short time periods (hours) by several hundred millivolts. Among the factors affecting E H concentrations of pollutants, pore water temperature and water flow rate were determined. Vegetated treatment beds of subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetlands filled with mineral substrate can be extremely dynamic systems, in which oxidation–reduction status changes within short time from anaerobic to aerobic and vice versa. Anaerobic conditions do not prevail necessarily in the upper layer of treatment bed, in which plant roots are present.
ISSN:0925-8574
1872-6992
DOI:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2008.08.008