REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM WASTE WATER BY PHYTOREMEDIATION

Abstract

Water is an essential natural resource for sustaining life and environment that we have always thought to be available in abundance and free gift of nature. However, chemical composition of surface or subsurface is one of the prime factors on which the suitability of water for domestic, industrial or agricultural purpose depends. Freshwater occurs as surface water and groundwater. Though groundwater contributes only 0.6% of the total water resources on earth, it is the major and the preferred source of drinking water in rural as well as urban areas, particularly in the developing countries like India because treatment of the same, including disinfection is often not required. it caters to 80% of the total drinking water requirement and 50% of the agricultural requirement in rural India. But in the era of economical growth, groundwater is getting polluted due to urbanization and industrialization. Over the past few decades, the ever-growing population, urbanization, industrialization - and unskilled utilization of water resources have led to degradation of water quality and reduction in per capita availability in various developing countries. Due to various ecological factors either natural or anthropogenic, the groundwater is getting polluted because of deep percolation from intensively cultivated fields, disposal of hazardous wastes, liquid and solid wastes from industries, sewage disposal, surface impoundments etc. Presence of various hazardous contaminants like fluoride, arsenic, nitrate, sulfate, pesticides, other heavy metals etc. in underground water has been reported from different parts of India. In many cases, the water sources have been rendered unsafe not only for human consumption but also for other activities such as irrigation and industrial needs. Therefore, now there is a need to focus greater attention on the future impact of water resources planning and development taking into consideration all the related issues. In India, fluoride is the major inorganic pollutant of natural origin found in groundwater. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that uses various plants to degrade, extract, contain, or immobilize contaminants from soil and water. This technology has been receiving attention lately as an innovative, cost-effective alternative to the more established treatment methods used at hazardous waste sites. in Present study we had taken two aquatic plant species which were selected for the study were 1pomoea Aquatica [Waler spinach] and Eichhornia crassipes [Waler Hyacinlh].These were very common aquatic plants which can easily found in water bodies like pond, lake, river etc. They were grown in plant growth chamber and studied for 10 days exposure period to fluoride of different concentrations and p1-I. The removal efficiency of Ipoinoea Aquatica / Waler spinachj was found 40.988 % and for Eichhornia crassipes [Waler 1-Iyacin1h] it was found 58.894 %. Results show that water hyacinth had better removal efficiency to remediate fluoride. In pH study for both the plants shows negative results, as we increase or decrees the pH of the solution the removal efficiency was decreased for both the plants. Accumulation of fluoride was found mainly in the roots for both plants, it was found 872.866 igm/gram Dw for Ipomoea Aquatica and 1148.479 tgm/gram Dw for Eichhornia crassipes. Both the plants shows the biomass degradation due to the fluoride exposure.