Phytoremediation of Tannery Effluent by Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Volume : IV, Issue : IV, April - 2015

Senthil Kumar. R, Deepanchakravarthy. S, Sarathi. V, C. T. Bhaaskaran

Increasing of urbanization, industrialization and over population are leading causatives of environmental pollution.

Small and medium scale industries in Tamil Nadu playing a major role in polluting water bodies and key among

pollutants are suspended solids, biological oxygen demand and heavy metals contamination. Conventional methods

of treatment such as chemical precipitation does not provide sustainable solutions as the pollutants are merely transferred from the waste

water to a sludge residue which is disposed of by land–filling. The pollutants eventually find their way to contaminating freshwater supplies.

Phytoremediation, an eco–friendly technology which is ecologically sound and economically viable; it is also an attractive alternative to the

current cleanup methods that are very expensive. This technology involves efficient use of aquatic plants to remove, detoxify or immobilize heavy

metals from waste water.