Uptake of Zn and Fe from wet market wastewater through phytoremediation: Potential of floating plants

Abstract

In Malaysia, wet market wastewaters are discharged directly into receiving water without any treatment which may affect both of human and aquatic life if not treated properly. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the potential of phytoremediation in removing the heavy metals, which is one of contaminants in wet market wastewater collected from Pasar Borong Kangar, Perlis by using two species of floating plants, Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) and Lemna minor (duckweed). Results show that 99.57% of Zn and 97.91% of Fe were removed by duckweed while, 98.34% of Zn and 97.05% of Fe were removed by water hyacinth. The relative growth of duckweed and water hyacinth recorded are 1.05 and 0.73, respectively. The Bioconcentration Factor of Zn and Fe for duckweed are 100 and 98, respectively while for water hyacinth are 98 and 97, respectively. Translocation Factor of Zn and Fe for duckweed are 0.06 and 0.02, respectively while for water hyacinth are 0.17 and 0.41, respectively. Overall, duckweed is a better floating plant in removing Zn and Fe from wet market wastewater compared to water hyacinth.