Nutrient uptake and wastewater purification by water hyacinth and its effect on plant growth in a batch system

Abstract

Nowadays, the ability of waste water purification by using Water Hyacinth has been investigated in different studies. A pilot plant fabrication was constructed near domestic water treatment plant, where water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) was used for waste water purification. The objective of this study was to test the role of water hyacinth in purifying wastewater and also to determine its effects on nutrient uptake and biomass growth based on pollutant removal rate in a defined time. The result shows that the constructed fabrication could remove 80% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 75% of total nitrogen (TN) and 75% of total phosphorus (TP) during the first week of experiment. Also the ratio of water loss in tanks and its effect on biomass growth was evaluated, and was found to be 20 % or 15 L of water reduction weekly and 40% of increase in plant biomass at the end of the experiment when compared to the initial growth. Thus it can be concluded that water hyacinth system was effective in purifying waste water during its optimum growth period.