Clogging processes caused by biofilm growth and organic particle accumulation in lab-scale vertical flow constructed wetlands

The accumulation of organic matter in substratum pores is regarded as an important factor causing clogging separately in the subsurface flow constructed wetlands. In this study, the developing process of clogging caused by biofilm growth or organic particle accumulation instead of total organic matter accumulation was investigated in two groups of lab-scale vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs), which were fed with glucose (dissolved organic matter) and starch (particulate organic matter) influent. Results showed that the growth of biofilms within the substratum pores certainly caused remarkable reduction of effective porosity, especially for the strong organic wastewater, whereas its influence on infiltration rate was negligible. It was implied that the most important contribution of biofilm growth to clogging was accelerating the occurrence of clogging. In comparison with biofilm growth, particles accumulation within pores could rapidly reduce infiltration rate besides effective porosity and the clogging occurred in the upper 0–15 cm layer. With approximately equal amount of accumulated organic matter, the effective porosity of the clogged layer in starch-fed systems was far less than that of glucose-fed systems, which indicated that composition and accumulation mode in addition to the amount of the accumulated organic matter played an important role in causing clogging.