SEGJ Technical Conference


Monitoring of groundwater flow in constructed wetlands using the electrical resistivity tomography


Abstract
The repeated ERT images indicated us a zone with resistivity decrease after infiltration of wastewater. It is commonly imaged in both the unplanted and planted wetland, and the depth of zone is about 15-20 cm. We conclude that it probably corresponds to the biofilm created by microorganism, which has low permeability with keeping moisture. In addition, the spatial heterogeneity of resistivity change is found below the planted wetland. It is possible that the heterogeneous biofilm distribution at the planted wetland results in the complicated resistivity change. Thus, the time-lapse ERT effectively gives us information about groundwater flow and microbial activities in the constructed wetland.