Surface water treatment via phytoremediation process using Nelumbo nucifera gaertn. and Nymphaea aquatic perennial plants

Nutrient pollution is one of the major contamination’s contributors to the surface water source in Malaysia. Most of the contaminants are contributed by the agricultural sector and causes by the runoff fertilizer from the agriculture activities. With a local demand of 11 billion m3 annually, the amount of clean water available is expected to increase and phytoremediation is the most economical green technology approach to solve the surface water contamination problem. Phytoremediation process has been recognized to treat and polish the final discharge of treated wastewater, however, its ability is not yet being implemented for treating the upstream water processes. Therefore, this work was conducted in order to evaluate the potential used of aquatic perennial plant, Nelumbo nucifera and Nymphaea in polishing the contaminated surface water. The work scopes were divided into three stages which is first, the preparation and re–cultivation of Nelumbo nucifera plants in laboratory-scale environment, next is the application of the plants to the contaminated water samples and lastly, the soil application during the phytoremediation process. During the study, Nelumbo nucifera plant is compared with similar aquatic perennial plant, Nymphaea (water lily). Two type of different soil size which is able to indicate the difference in percentage of removal of BOD, COD, and the value of the DO, NO3- and EC were also applied during the phytoremediation process. A decrease in organic matter as determined by BOD and COD (98% and 59%, respectively) when treated using Nelumbo nucifera and 64.5% of BOD and 50.5% of COD when treated using Nymphaea was identified after 30 days of the experimental duration. In a meanwhile, the additional of the fine soil into the treatment were noticed with 3.8 mg/L of BOD value after the 30 days of treatment. The absorption capacity of the contamination on the soil surface was analyzed by the structure degradation analysis using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Maximum soil absorption capacity was noticed in the fine soil compared to the course soil. After the 30 days of retention time, the rhizomes of Nelumbo nucifera were analyzed using the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) to identify the content of absorbed metal trace in the plants. Here, we noticed the both course and fine soil were able to minimize the penetration of metal contaminants from entering the inner part of the rhizomes such as Pb, As, Cd, Cr, Al and K. However, certain essential metal trace that require by the plants for growing purpose such as Mg and Ca were found to be increasing even with the soil addition. The study concluded that Nelumbo nucifera plant is a potential candidate for polishing and treating the surface water. The results also indicated that the addition of the soil was able to minimize certain metal trace contaminants from entering the plants bodies and very potential to be used as buffer material in case the plant is exposed with higher contaminants dosage.

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