Published Paper Details:

Water pollution and the growing share of wastewater released into water bodies increased stress on water environment.. Proper environmental-friendly and sustainable techniques are important for treatment of these water resources. Phytoremediation in water deals with the application of aquatic plants for the remediation of pollutants in water resources or aquatic ecosystems. In this work, efforts were made to remove pollution load of municipal wastewater by using free-floating macrophytes like Spirodela polyrhiza and Lemna minor. Both were reported as very successful duckweeds for the phytoremediation and their low cost, long storage capacity, minimal chemical and biological sludge volume. Also, their ease of transport, ability to grow under different climatic conditions and fast reproduction rates are additional advantages. The interesting results obtained were percentage reduction in COD (82.2% and 68.8%), BOD (84.3% and 63.8%), phosphate (63.8% and 59.02%,), ammonia nitrogen (75.4% and 55.9%) and nitrate (79.1% and 55.4%) for Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrizha respectively. The maximum growth of duckweeds was during the experimental period in the pH range 7-8. The study showed that this treatment can be successfully carried out on a large scale by using Lemna minor as the phytoremediation agent for about 17days as an effective, low-cost tertiary treatment for heavy loaded municipal wastewater. Also, it could be given as a stand-alone treatment with preliminary facilities, in small villages.