Studies on Potential Use of Water Hyacinth, Pistia  and Azolla for Municipal Waste Water Treatment

A.A.Deshmukh; N.N. Bandela; J.R.Chavan; P.M.Nalawade

Volume : III, Issue : XI, November - 2013

Studies on Potential Use of Water Hyacinth, Pistia and Azolla for Municipal Waste Water Treatment

A. A. Deshmukh, N. N. Bandela, J. R. Chavan, P. M. Nalawade

Abstract :

The effectiveness of sewage purification by aquatic plant such as Water Hyacinth (Echhornia crassipes), Pistia (Pistia stratiotes) and Azolla (Azolla filiculoides) was tested on laboratory scale. Laboratory experiments verified that the plants are capable of decreasing all tested indicators of water quality. The Echhornia sp. reduced the BOD from 465 to 152 mg/lit, COD from 368 to 201 mg/lit, Nitrogen from 190 to 73 mg/lit, Phosphate from 55 to 14 mg/lit, and Potassium from 110 to 49 mg/lit. The Pistia sp. survived for only 6 days under laboratory condition and reduced BOD from 465 to 318 mg/lit, COD from 368 to 284 mg/lit, Nitrogen from 190 to 125 mg/lit, Phosphate from 55 to 29 mg/lit and Potassium from 110 to 66 mg/lit. The Azolla sp. showed reduction in BOD from 465 to 155 mg/lit, COD from 368 to 210 mg/lit, Nitrogen from 190 to 83 mg/lit, Phosphate from 55 to 18 mg/lit and Potassium from 110 to 54 mg/lit. During the study it was found that Echhornia sp. was significantly more effective than Azolla sp. and Pistia sp. in municipal waste water treatment. The result shows that the use of such free floating macrophyte for treatment of urban sewage is a viable option