Heavy Metal Removal from Domestic Wastewater Employing Live Eichhornia Crassipes

Abstract

This study uses naturally growing water hyacinth for wastewater purification system, this is an alternative technique of heavy metal remediation. These plants enhance the removal of pollutants by consuming part of them in the form of the plant nutrients. The vascular plants cultured in such treatment system perform several functions, including assimilation and storing contaminates, transporting O2 to root zone, and providing a substrate for microbial activity, canal containing floating macrophytes. This applies to municipal wastewater, in particular, where treatment units of different size can be applied at the pollution source and consumes less energy for the running. The effectiveness of wastewater purification by different plants was tested on laboratory and pilot scales. The aquatic plants system offers an environmentally friendly and cost effective technology, which have been used for removing Cadmium, Iron and Copper from wastewater. Batch experiments verified that the plants are capable of decreasing all tested indicators for water quality to levels that permit the use of purified water for irrigation, which poses serious problems in various locations throughout the country. It is shown that mixture of wastewater from in front of Gautam Budha University canal/ Greater Noida’s canal wastewater and Galgotias University sewage treatment plants. The removal efficiency of the Cadmium, Iron and Copper is 74.52%, 75.31% and 67.75% in greater Noida’s canal and 73.72%, 74.99 % and 68.37% in Galgotias University’s wastewater respectively.