Sludge generated in the treatment of urban wastewater must be properly treated as it may contain concentrations of heavy metals or the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The wastewater treatment plant in the main parish of Penipe, Chimborazo province, Ecuador, consists of an Imhoff tank in whose sedimentation chambers the waste sludge from physical treatment is digested under anaerobic conditions. The sludge is discharged into an open-air drying bed and does not receive treatment to stabilize it. Laboratory analysis determined that the sludge contains 24.23 mg.kg-1 of lead and is considered a potentially hazardous waste. The aim of the research is to treat the contaminated sludge by means of phytoextraction. The plant species known as wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) was sown in the residual mud and the treatment was biomonitoring for 91 days. Mud samples were taken every 15 days and by laboratory analysis a decrease in lead concentration was identified, identifying a root absorption efficiency of 16.40%.
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