Remedation of water contaminated with phenol and chromium by floating treatment wetlands
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Date
2021
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Publisher
UMT, Lhr
Abstract
Fresh and clean water is a basic necessity for life. Despite its importance for life it has been continuously wasted and polluted. One of the highly contributing factors towards the contamination of water is the unchecked discharge of refineries and drilling sites produced water into fresh water bodies. Consequently, such discharge of hydrocarbons posing series threats to the aquatic flora and fauna. Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) has been proven as suitable remediation method for the treatment of contaminated water. FTWs are floatable buoyant mats which are vegetated with selective plants that can perform remediation with the roots hanging in the water that flows underneath. The microorganisms which colonize in the root and shoot of the plants improve their growth and removal of pollutants from water. The main purpose of this study was to apply the floating wetlands treatment method for the remediation of phenol and chromium contaminated water. In the current research, FTWs carrying Phragmites australis, was inoculated with consortium of four bacterial strains (Burkholderia phytofirmans Ps.JN, Acenitobacter sp. ACRH76, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PJRS20, Bacillus sp. PJRS25) and evaluated for their potential to reduce the phenol and chromium (P-C) contamination in water. The FTWs, vegetated with P. australis efficiently removed the phenol and chromium from the water. The bacterial inoculation further enhanced the removal efficacy of P-C by the FTWs. Maximum phenolchromium removal was observed by the combined use of P. australis and bacteria in FTWs after 20 days. The inoculated bacteria showed more
persistence in the root than the shoot and water. The P-C contamination in water inhibited plants growth, however, bacterial inoculation reduced their toxic
effects on the growth of the plants. The maximum plant growth (roots and shoot lengths and biomass) was exhibited by P. australis inoculated with bacterial consortium. The results have revealed the outstanding efficiency of bacterialaugmented FTWs in phenol and chromium removal. It is concluded that the combined use of plants and bacteria in FTWs is the best approach for remediating water contaminated with phenol and chromium.