Temporal phytoremediation potential for heavy metals and bacterial abundance in drainage water

Abstract

Drainage water in developing countries has a high abundance of pathogenic bacteria and high levels of toxic and mutagenic pollutants. Remediation of drainage water is important in water-poor counties, especially with the growing need to secure sustainability of safe water resources to fulfill increasing demands for agriculture. Here, we assess the efficiency of macrophyte Pistiastratiotes to remediate a polluted drain in Egypt, rich in macronutrients, heavy metals, and different types of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Drainage water was sampled monthly, for a year, to assess seasonal changes in bacterial abundance, water physicochemical properties (transparency, temperature, dissolved oxygen, EC, pH, N, P, and K), and heavy metals contents (Pb, Zn, and Co) in a polluted drain dominated with P.stratiotes. The ability of P.stratiotes to rhizofiltrate the three heavy metals was calculated. The results showed seasonal variations in the plant rhizofiltration potential of Co and Salmonella abundance. The highest values of dissolved oxygen (12.36 mg/L) and macronutrient elements (N and P) were attained in the winter. The counts of total coliform, fecal coliform, fecal streptococci, and in Salmonella spp. were the highest in the summer. P.stratiotes accumulated Pb more than Zn and Co. The highest levels of rhizofiltration were in summer for Pb and Co and in the autumn for Zn. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the variation in the bacterial abundance and plant rhizofiltration potential was strongly and significantly affected by water-dissolved oxygen. Moreover, the rhizofiltration potential of Pb and Co showed a positive correlation with water N. Overall, P.stratiotes could be proposed as a potential biomonitor for heavy metals in polluted water.

Bioaccumulation of some heavy metals by four exotic weeds in the coastal area of Nile Delta, Egypt

“…The plant samples were collected and kept in clean plastic bags. The dry weight of the collected plant samples was estimated after drying them in an oven at 85°C until constant weight (El-Liethy et al, 2022). The collected soil samples were transported to the laboratory where they were air dried for 14 days at lab temperature (18-22°C).…”

Wet‐Chemical Etching and Delamination of MoAlB into MBene and Its Outstanding Photocatalytic Performance

“…An increasing generation of industrial sewage calls for an intensive search for new methods of pollutant remediation. [1][2][3][4][5] The most promising is decomposition based on photocatalysis due to its environmental viability and sustainability. [6][7][8] Therefore, the field of photocatalysis is rapidly developing toward increasing process efficiency.…”