Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper


Vol.14, Issue 04, 2008

Page Number: 553-557

POTENTIAL OF TYPHA LATIFOLIA FOR PHOSPHOROUS REMOVAL IN BATCH CONSTRUCTED WETLAND

P.G. Sonavane, S.V. Ranade and G.R. Munavalli

Abstract

Eutrophication is a vital issue in India due to unsafe disposal of domestic wastewater containing Phosphorous (P) in water bodies. On the background use of Constructed Wetlands in U.S. and European countries, it seems to be an attractive option to hinder such pollution. In this context, a pilot unit consisting Typha lotifolia and stone grit bed media was studied in a batch mode for P - removal in comparison with reference unit. In this study, the batch CWTS demonstrated 4% to 23% P removal during HRT of 1.5 to 7.5 days due to adsorption and plant uptake mechanisms. The Typha plants were found to have uptake of 147.89 kgP/ha.year.The P adsorbed was found to be 0.02 mgP/g stone grit used as bed media during four months of study.The technique may prove to be a viable treatment option for the treatment of P rich wastewater, with further research related with evaluation of different media and wetland plants for their potential application in batch type constructed wetlands.