REMOVAL OF ARSENIC FROM SIMULATED WASTE WATER USING PHYTOREMEDIATION: AN ADVANCED NATURAL METHOD

Abstract

Arsenic is toxic due to which many types of diseases spread in the living being. In last - decades, many countries reported various types of arsenic related diseases around the world. Removal of arsenic from the water is a great concern due to its highly toxic and carcinogenic nature. Due to rapid industrialization the contamination of arsenic in water has been increased. This causes serious ill effect to the human being. Various techniques are available to remove arsenic from wastewater. Among the available techniques the phytoremediation is most popular technique for the removal of arsenic from water as well as from soil. Phytoremediation is the new emergent technology in which plants are used to remove the heavy metal from contaminated wastewater. In the present research work, the removal efficiency of arsenic from contaminated wastewater by submerged plant water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) has been studied. Arsenic concentration was measured using ICPMS. Characterization of plant water hyacinth was carried out by using FTIR, by measuring weight and height of the plant. The stress of arsenic on plant was determined by the analysis of decrement or increment of plant biomass. Bio-concentration factor value gives the hyperaccumulation of arsenic at initial concentration. The water hyacinth had capacity to eliminate or consume toxic element arsenic from the wastewater. Effect of initial arsenic concentration - of arsenic removal was investigated in our present work. Maximum removal efficiency was obtained as 53.63% at initial concentration of 1 mg/L at the end of 81h day of experiment period. It was observed that removal decreases with the increase in initial concentration of Arsenic. It was also observed that Water hyacinth remediated arsenic maximum at the concentration of 1 mg/L. This shows that the uptake rate of the plant was low when the concentration was high. Moreover, it was also found that the removal efficiency of the plant was sensitive to the pH changes.