Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

RANGE FINDING PHYTOTOXICITY TEST OF SALINITY ON AVICENNIA MARINA AS THE FIRST STEP ON BIO-DESALINATION TECHNOLOGY

Harmin Sulistiyaning Titah, Herman Pratikno, Ipung Fitri Purwanti and Rachmi Layina Chimayati

Abstract

Now a days, the limitations of raw water and the crisis of clean water are a serious issues. One technology to solve the crisis of clean water is desalination of sea water but this technology of desalination is expensive. It is necessary to find desalination technology which is cheaper and simple in operation. Biodesalination technology to remove ion of Na+ and Cl- is a new technology. The phytotechnology concept is applied for bio-desalination reactor. At this stage of the research, it was conducted range finding test to determine the salinity concentration which Avicennia marina can survive. The test was performed using a plastic reactor designed with a reed bed system. The reactor filled with gravel, sand, and saline water. Variation of NaCl concentration were 0 mg/L as control, 10,000; 20,000; 30,000; 40,000, and 50,000 mg/L. Physical observation of the growth of Avicennia marina was conducted and the watering of plants was carried out using distilled water. Based on observations for 1 week, Avicennia marina at concentrations of 40,000 and 50,000 mg/L showed the plant could not survive. Avicennia marina has been changed the color of the leaves to brown, decreasing of number of leaves, the stems become softer and the roots tend to turn black.