Publication Details

The Comparison of Phytoremediation Abilities of Water Mimosa and Water Hyacinth

Water mimosa and water hyacinth are the two plants with phytoremediation ability. However, the phytoremediation abilities of these plants in terms of the heavy metals uptake, the bio-concentration factor and relative growth is rarely being assessed and reported. Present study aims to compare the phytoremediation ability of water mimosa and water hyacinth. Both plants were treated with heavy metals i.e. lead, copper and cadmium in the laboratory in a nutrient solution at concentrations of 0.5 to 20 mg/L. Treated plants were harvested and tested for heavy metals uptake, bio-concentration factor, the tolerance index and the relative growth rate. The heavy metals concentration in the root, stems and leaves was also measured in this study. The overall findings have indicated that water mimosa has lower heavy metals uptake and bioconcentration factor value compared to water hyacinth. Both plants accumulate high heavy metals in the roots compared to stems and leaves. Both plants use rhizofiltration (accumulate heavy metal in roots) process to remove heavy metals. This study concludes that both plants have the potential to be commercialized as phytoremediation agent to clean polluted water.