Mesocosm Assessment of Remedial Efficiency of Heavy Metals from Wastewater by Microalgae, Macrophyte and Floating Treatment Wetland: A Comparative Study
摘要
Phytoremediation and phycoremediation are eco-friendly approaches for treating heavy metal contaminated wastewater. This study, using living Arthrospira platensis, demonstrated noteworthy removal of Pb (72.7 ± 0.9% to 95.1 ± 0.3%) from single and bimetal solution at low initial concentration (5 and 10 mg/L), while Cr uptake was comparatively lower (25 ± 0.8% to 35.6 ± 1.4%) over a 7-days duration and was significantly dependent on the experimental duration. Pb uptake by microalgae ranged from 1.21 to 3.11 mg/g of wet biomass, whereas Cr uptake was lower (0.57 to 1.18 mg/g of wet biomass), indicating that living A. platensis can be a worthy means for treating Pb-contaminated wastewater. However, in comparison, phytoremediation using Eichhornia crassipes and Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) showed high removal efficiency within the first 7 days. The ANOVA test revealed significant differences of microalgal removal efficiency with other treatment methods. Thus, the results suggest the use of E. crassipes and FTW over living A. platensis for treating Pb and Cr contaminated water under conditions of limited nutrients and unfavored pH.