Evaluation of Phytodesalination Potential of Vegetated Bioreactors Treating Greenhouse Effluent

Abstract

Abstract:The dissolved salt ions that are not absorbed during irrigation of greenhouse crops are gradually accumulated in the nutrient solution resulting in levels of salinity high enough to damage the crops. This water salinity presents operational and environmental challenges as the nutrient-rich greenhouse effluent should be discharged to the environment when deemed unsuited for irrigation. In this pilot-scale study, the potential of passive salt reduction (phytodesalination) in gravel and wood-chip flow-through reactors was evaluated using seven plant species including Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Andropogon gerardii, Typha angustifolia, Elymus canadensis, Panicum virgatum, Spartina pectinata and Distichlis spicata along with an unplanted control reactor. While the unplanted system outperformed the planted units with gravel media, the wood-chip bioreactors with S. tabernaemontani and S. pectinata improved the greenhouse effluent reducing the solution conductivity (EC) by a maximum of 15% (average = 7%). S. tabernaemontani and D. spicata showed higher accumulated contents of Na + and Cl − in comparison with T. angustifolia and S. pectinata. Overall, S. tabernaemontani was selected as the most capable species in the wood-chip bioreactors for its better salt management via EC reduction and salt accumulation. It was however concluded that further treatment would be required for the greenhouse effluent to meet the stringent irrigation water quality guidelines in order not to pose any adverse effects on sensitive crops. Finally, the present hydraulic residence time (HRT = 3.7 days) and the solution salinity concentration were identified as the potential factors that may be limiting the efficiency of plant salt uptake, emphasizing the need for conducting more research on the optimization and enhancement of passive desalination systems for the greenhouse effluent.

Halophytic Clonal Plant Species: Important Functional Aspects for Existence in Heterogeneous Saline Habitats

“…From the point of view of ecosystem services, S. tabernaemontani is important for shoreline protection, erosion control as a stabilizing factor, as a habitat for other species, as well as for providing aeration of sediment and water [235]. In addition, the species has been used in different practical applications of phytoremediation, such as for desalination in bioreactor systems for greenhouse effluent treatment [236].…”

Halophytes as a Potential Resource for Phytodesalination

“…The study demonstrated that S. portulacastrum showed vigorous growth and high photosynthetic and antioxidant activity in the highly saline condition, which made it a suitable candidate for phytodesalination (Muchate et al 2016). Pouladi et al (2016) performed a pilotscale experiment to assess the phytodesalination potential of seven plant species including Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Andropogon gerardii, Typha angustifolia, Elymus canadensis, Panicum virgatum, Spartina pectinata, and Distichlis spicata. The result demonstrated that S. tabernaemontani, and D. spicata, accumulated high concentration of Na + and Cl À compared to T. angustifolia and S. pectinata.…”

Influence of Plant Species on Microbial Activity and Denitrifier Population Development in Vegetated Denitrifying Wood-Chip Bioreactors

“…The synthetic greenhouse effluent was prepared in the laboratory as per the common greenhouse effluent characteristics reported in the literature and by greenhouse operations in Ontario, Canada [4,[16][17][18]. The average influent nitrate concentration was 307 mg N L −1 from day 1 to 387 and 202 mg N L −1 from Day 387 to 936.…”