Efficiency of Five Selected Aquatic Plants in Phytoremediation of Aquaculture Wastewater

Featured Application Authors are encouraged to provide a concise description of the specific application or a potential application of the work. This section is not mandatory. Abstract The lack of clean water sources, due to the presence of pollutants in water, is a major issue in many countries, including Malaysia. To overcome this problem, various methods have been introduced, including phytoremediation treatment. Therefore, this phytoremediation study examined the ability of five aquatic plants-Centella asiatica, Ipomoea aquatica, Salvinia molesta, Eichhornia crassipes, and Pistia stratiotes-to remove three pollutants-total suspended solids (TSS), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), and phosphate-from aquaculture wastewater. Using wastewater samples, each containing 50 g of one of the plants, the pollutant levels were measured every two days for 14 days. The results showed a drastic decline in the concentration of pollutants, where C. asiatica was able to remove 98% of NH3-N, 90% of TSS, and 64% of phosphate, while I. aquatica showed the potential to eliminate up to 73% of TSS and NH3-N, and 50% of phosphate. E. crassipes drastically removed 98% of phosphate, 96% of TSS, and 74% of NH3-N, while P. stratiotes was able to eliminate 98% of TSS, 78% of NH3-N, and 89% of phosphate. S. molesta was efficient in removing 89.3% of TSS and 88.6% of phosphate, but only removed 63.9% of NH3-N.