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Effect of Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia on biofiltration of heavy metals from secondary treated effluent
Kumari, M. & Tripathi, B.D.
Abstract
The present work deals with a promising
approach for the removal of heavy metals from secondary
treated wastewater using aquatic plants, which are economic
and effective in separating metals from polluted
water. Since the conventional sewage treatment processes
were inefficient to remove heavy metals from wastewater,
batch experiments of Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia
and P. australis and T. latifolia grown in association and
reference (unplanted) were carried out for 15 days of
retention time for the removal of copper (Cu), cadmium
(Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), and
zinc (Zn) from the secondary treated effluent. Significantly,
higher removal of the heavy metals in planted set than the
reference revealed role of plants in their removal (analysis
of variance, p < 0.05). Higher removal of Cr, Fe, and Zn
(66.2 ± 3.5, 70.6 ± 1.2, and 71.6 ± 3.9 %) in the combination
of the P. australis and T. latifolia than their
individual culture suggested synergistic effect of both the
plants in the removal of these metals. Positive relationship
was observed between retention time and the removal of
heavy metals. Mass balance equation has revealed that the
loss of heavy metals in wastewater was equivalent to the
net accumulation of heavy metals in plant and loss of heavy
metals in natural degradation. P. australis showed higher
accumulative capacities for Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Fe, and Pb than
those of T. latifolia. The P. australis and T. latifolia grown
in association might be utilized for the heavy metal
removal in the tropical environment.
Keywords
Accumulation; Aquatic plants; Removal; Retention time; Synergistic effect
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