Ecological Engineering 62 (2014) 48–53

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Ecological Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng

Effect of aeration and mixed culture of Eichhornia crassipes and

Salvinia natans on removal of wastewater pollutants
Menka Kumari a , B.D. Tripathi b,∗
a
Pollution Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India
b
Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An attempt was made to investigate the impact of aeration and mixed culture of Eichhornia crassipes
Received 31 May 2013 and Salvinia natans on the removal of both organic and inorganic pollutants from municipal wastewater.
Received in revised form Since treatment of wastewater generated from industrial and domestic sources have made mandatory
27 September 2013
before its release to rivers, ponds or streams. This study focused on the comparison between removal
Accepted 12 October 2013
potentials of non-aerated and aerated cultures of E. crassipes and S. natans grown individually and in
Available online 15 November 2013
mixed culture. Highest removal potential of aerated and mixed plant culture was recorded as 84.5% of
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 ), 83.2% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 26.6% of nitrate-nitrogen
Keywords:
Aeration
(NO3 − -N), 53.0% of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and 56.6% of phosphate-phosphorous (PO4 3− -P). A posi-
Eichhornia crassipes tive and significant relationship was established between percent removal of the pollutants and retention
Removal time. It was observed that 36 h of retention time was sufficient to minimize BOD5 from 154.5 ± 1.36 to
Salvinia natans 23.9 ± 0.94 mg L−1 and COD from 309.0 ± 2.2 to 51.9 ± 3.9 mg L−1 , which were for below permissible levels
Wastewater pollutants of 30 mg L−1 BOD and 250 mg L−1 COD. Thus, a culture of E. crassipes and S. natans might be utilized for the
removal of organic (BOD and COD) and inorganic (NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P) pollutants from municipal
wastewater. In addition, a removal of pollutant may further be enhanced with the aeration (0.5 L min−1 )
of wastewater.
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction for the microbial degradation of organic materials (Brix, 1997; Dong
and Sun, 2007; Tripathi and Shukla, 1991; Upadhyay et al., 2007). In
Due to water scarcity and increasingly stringent regulations for recent years, bio-filtration systems or constructed wetlands with
the release of wastewater generated from industrial and domes- rooted, emergent and free floating aquatic plants have been used
tic sources proper treatment and safe disposal of wastewater extensively for the treatment of municipal and industrial waste-
has become one of the major concerns of wastewater discharge water (Calheiros et al., 2007; Jayaweera et al., 2008; Klomjek and
regulatory authorities. Release of organic and inorganic pollut- Nitisoravut, 2005; Song et al., 2006; Thomas et al., 1995; Vymazal,
ants including nitrogen and phosphorus into water bodies causes 2007).
eutrophication invariable, which may deplete dissolved oxygen During removal of organic and inorganic pollutants including
content of the water body, posing a serious threat to both aquatic nitrogen aeration is often a limiting factor (Huang et al., 2000;
life and human health (Pramanik et al., 2012). The conventional Huett et al., 2005). In a non-aerated biofiltration system nitrify-
sewage treatment plants are not adequate to remove pollutants ing microorganisms often show slow growth rate as compared to
from wastewater. Therefore, it is imperative to suggest an appro- heterotrophic microorganisms, which would hamper the removal
priate wastewater treatment technology. of organic and inorganic pollutants from the wastewater. Aeration
Bio-filtration systems are natural machineries that are used facilitates aerobic degradation of organic materials by maintaining
worldwide to improve the quality of effluents from domestic and oxygen concentration in the wastewater. The conversion of NH4 + -N
industrial sources. These bio-filtration systems consist of aquatic to NO3 − -N and free nitrogen through nitrification and denitrifi-
plants, which act as bio-filters by providing a larger surface area cation is also enhanced in limited aeration. Therefore, in order to
enhance the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants includ-
ing nitrogen from municipal and industrial wastewater, aeration
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9415225011; fax: +91 542 2369139. is often used. Several studies have been conducted to improve
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Kumari), [email protected] the quality of effluent from domestic and industrial sources using
(B.D. Tripathi). aerated bio-filtration systems (Boyd, 1998; Dong et al., 2012;

0925-8574/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.10.007
 M. Kumari, B.D. Tripathi / Ecological Engineering 62 (2014) 48–53 49

Ouellet-Plamondon et al., 2006; Kadlec and Wallace, 2009; Tripathi

and Tripathi, 2011; Zhang et al., 2010; Zimmels et al., 2009). How-
ever, in previous studies, aeration was applied in individually
grown aquatic plants including Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor
(Zimmels et al., 2009). Systematic data on removal of organic and
inorganic pollutants by aerated mixed culture is scarce. Therefore,
it was imperative to evaluate the effect of aeration and mixed cul-
ture of the selected aquatic plants on the removal of organic and
inorganic pollutants from municipal wastewater.
In present study, free floating aquatic plants were selected for
the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants because they have
higher removal efficiencies as compared to rooted emergent plants.
This may attributed to the fact that free floating plants float freely
in aquatic system and cover more area for absorption as compared
to the fixed emergent plants. Among free floating aquatic plants, E.
crassipes (Mart.) has greater capacity to remove pollutants because
of their higher growth rate and extensive root system for micro-
bial growth, which make it an attractive filter for nutrients and
suspended particles (Zimmels et al., 2006). E. crassipes has been
used for the removal of organic, inorganic and toxic pollutants from
wastewater by a number of previous researchers (Agunbiade et al.,
2009; Ayyasamy et al., 2009; Chen et al., 2010; Deng et al., 2012;
Ebel et al., 2007; Kony et al., 2013; Lu et al., 2008; Módenes et al.,
2011; Nesterenko-Malkovskaya et al., 2012; Thomas et al., 1995;
Wang et al., 2012). Several studies were also conducted on the
removal of pollutants by Salvinia sp (Baral et al., 2008; Espinoza-
Quiñones et al., 2009; Prado et al., 2010). Therefore, in this study,
E. crassipes and Salvinia natans (L.) Hoffm have been used as an
experimental plant species. In mixed culture, broad leaved (E. cras-
sipes) and short leaved (S. natans) aquatic plant species enhance the
utilization of nutrients from all possible niches.
In this study, a bio-filtration system consisting aquatic plants
E. crassipes and S. natans aerated through multi-pore fine bubble
Fig. 1. (a) Layout of the seven experiment sets: NAEC (non-aerated E. crassipes
aeration system, has been developed for the treatment of municipal
culture); AEC (aerated E. crassipes culture; NASC: non-aerated S. natans culture);
wastewater. ASC (aerated S. natans culture); NAMC (non-aerated mixed culture of E. crassipes
and S. natans; AMC (aerated mixed culture of E. crassipes and S. natans); NAUPS
(non-aerated unplanted set); (b) experimental set up of aerated mixed culture of E.
1.1. Research aim and objectives crassipes culture and S. natans. (DO: dissolved oxygen; dd: double distilled water).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aeration

and mixed culture of selected plant species on the removal of aeration and treated as reference set for calculating the loss of
organic and inorganic pollutants from municipal wastewater. Spe- nutrients through natural degradation process. Surface area of
cific objectives were: (1) to determine the effect of aeration on each experimental set was 0.25 m2 . Total planted surface area was
removal of organic and inorganic materials in E. crassipes and 1.5 m2 (0.25 m2 × 6), out of which three sets of total 0.75 m2 area
S. natans and their mixed culture; (2) to compare removal of was aerated and rest was non-aerated. For both aerated and non-
wastewater pollutants by E. crassipes and S. natans in aerated and aerated monocultures, plant biomass of 73.0 ± 0.03 g dry weight
non-aerated cultures; and (3) to evaluate the impact of aeration per experimental set for each water hyacinth and floating fern
and mixed culture of E. crassipes and S. natans on the removal of was maintained. For both aerated and non-aerated mixed cultures,
the pollutants. A novel approach i.e. effect of combined aeration 36.5 ± 0.05 g dry weight per set for each of the water hyacinth and
and mixed culture of selected plant species has been evaluated has floating fern was taken. Total plant biomass in six planted exper-
been used to remove wastewater pollutants in this study. imental sets was 438.0 g dry weight of plant. Plant density was
maintained at the rate of 146.0 g dry weight per m−2 for water
hyacinth and floating fern in the mixed culture, while 292.0 g dry
2. Materials and methods
weight m−2 for each of the water hyacinth and floating fern in both
aerated and non-aerated monocultures.
2.1. Experimental bio-filtration units

Batch experiments were carried out in seven biofiltration units 2.2. Operating conditions
(Fig. 1a). Each unit has a dimension of 50 cm length, 50 cm width
and 30 cm height (75 L). Three units were aerated with a multi-pore In order to minimize experimental error, bio-filtration units
aeration system fitted at bottom with the PVC pipe of 50 cm length were configured thrice at monthly intervals from March 2012 to
and 8 cm diameter (Fig. 1b). The air flow rate of 0.5 L min−1 was May 2012. The units were fed with 50 L of municipal wastewa-
maintained. Other four units were kept non-aerated. Out of seven ter, which was collected from the inlet point of a nearby Sewage
experimental units, three were aerated and three non-aerated units Treatment Plant located at Bhagwanpur, Varanasi, India. Physico-
with the individual and mixed culture of E. crassipes and S. natans. chemical characteristics of untreated wastewater have been shown
However, remaining one unit was kept without plant culture and in Table 1.
50 M. Kumari, B.D. Tripathi / Ecological Engineering 62 (2014) 48–53

Table 1
Physicochemical properties of municipal wastewater before treatment.

Variable Value CPCB (1993) a

◦
Temperature ( C) 26.1 ± 0.1 <5 ◦ C above the receiving water temperature
pH 7.7 ± 0.01 5.5–9.0
Electrical conductivity (␮S cm−1 ) 211.3 ± 2.3 –
Total alkalinity (CaCO3 mg L−1 ) 357.2 ± 3.2 –
Acidity (CaCO3 mg L−1 ) 61.4 ± 1.6 –
Dissolved oxygen DO (mg L−1 ) 0.99 ± 0.03 –
Biochemical oxygen demand BOD5 (mg L−1 ) 154.5 ± 3.0 30.0
Chemical oxygen demand COD (mg L−1 ) 309.0 ± 4.9 250.0
Nitrate nitrogen NO3 -N (mg L−1 ) 2.5 ± 0.04 10.0
Total Kjeldahl nitrogen TKN (mg L−1 ) 5.5 ± 0.3 100.0
Phosphate phosphorous PO4 -P (mg L−1 ) 7.7 ± 0.02 5.0
a
General standards for discharge of environmental pollutants into inland surface water by CPCB (1993); values are mean ± standard deviation (n = 5).

The floating aquatic plants, E. crassipes and S. natans were col- 3. Results and discussion
lected from the fresh water Agro-Farm pond of the Banaras Hindu
University campus, Varanasi, India. The plants were washed prop- 3.1. Effect of aeration and dissolved oxygen content on removal
erly before putting into the biofiltration units. The biofiltration of wastewater pollutants
units were maintained in open conditions with 10 h of natural
sunlight exposure. Aeration played a significant role in the removal of organic
(BOD5 , COD), inorganic (NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P) pollutants by
2.3. Sample collection and analysis enhancing the dissolved oxygen availability (DO). Dissolved oxygen
provides favourable condition for nitrification, while denitrifica-
Treatment performance of the biofiltration units was examined tion occurs under anoxic conditions. DO content was highest at
by analyzing the physicochemical parameters including biochem- bottom of the aquarium, decreasing with distance and ranged from
ical oxygen demand for 5 days at 25 ◦ C (BOD5 ), chemical oxygen 1 mg L−1 to 5 mg L−1 .
demand (COD), nitrate-N (NO3 − -N), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) In this study, removal of BOD5 , COD, NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P
and phosphate-phosphorous (PO4 3− -P) of the wastewater sam- was found higher in aerated set as compared to the non-aerated
ples following Standard Methods (APHA et al., 2005). The water sets (Table 2). As compared to the reference set, BOD5 removal
samples were collected at 5 cm depth from the water surface was found 3.2 times higher in aerated mixed culture of E. cras-
from the seven biofiltration unit after 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and sipes and S. natans than non-aerated treatment. Similarly, removal
72 h of retention during three months of operation. Five repli- of COD, NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P was also enhanced by 3.0, 6.6,
cates of each sample were collected in order to minimize the 4.3 and 3.0 times, respectively, in aerated system with mixed cul-
experimental error. The amount of wastewater in biofiltration ture. Thus, aeration enhanced the removal rate of the BOD5 , COD,
unit was maintained by compensating the water lost during NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P as compared to non-aerated culture
evapotranspiration and sampling and the dilution factor was also (Table 2). The possible reason for enhanced removal of organic
calculated. pollutants (BOD5 , COD) might be due to increase in DO content
with aeration of wastewater, which increased the rate of oxidation.
2.4. Statistical analyses Removal of inorganic pollutants (NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P) was
also enhanced due to increase in rate of nitrification and phosphate
Two-way ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range tests (DMRT degradation under oxygenic conditions. These findings suggest that
at alpha = 0.05) were used to find differences among means and there was a positive effect of aeration on the removal of organic and
influence of aeration and retention time on wastewater quality inorganic pollutants. Similar findings were also reported by Zhang
variables. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS 16 soft- et al. (2010) with 94.4% BOD5 removal from domestic wastewater in
ware. aerated wetlands. Dong et al. (2009) also observed a positive effect
Percent removal (PR) of wastewater quality variables were cal- of dissolved oxygen concentration (0.5 mg L−1 ) on the removal of
culated using formula = (1 − Cf/Ci) × 100%, where Cf = concentration COD, ammonia and total nitrogen (94.5, 96.07 and 78.4%) by the
of the pollutant before treatment, Ci = concentration of the pollut- membrane aeration/filtration unit. Annibale et al. (2006) have also
ant before treatment. reported that both agitation and aeration strongly enhanced the

Table 2
Percent removal of wastewater pollutants in non-aerated and aerated E. crassipes, S. natans and their mixed culture following 36 h of retention.

Variables E. crassipes S. natans Mixed culture Unplanted

Non-aerated Aerated Non-aerated Aerated Non-aerated Aerated Non-aerated

BOD5 (%) 49.8 ± 1.7 82.9 ± 0.6 38.4 ± 2.1 77.1 ± 2.2 51.0 ± 1.8 84.5 ± 1.5 26.6 ± 1.4
COD (%) 48.0 ± 1.6 82.0 ± 0.5 36.9 ± 1.2 76.9 ± 2.5 48.3 ± 1.7 83.2 ± 2.8 27.8 ± 1.5
NO3 − -N (%) 10.8 ± 3.0 23.3 ± 1.4 6.7 ± 1.7 11.6 ± 1.8 11.6 ± 0.9 26.6 ± 2.0 4.0 ± 0.5
TKN (%) 20.9 ± 4.0 45.6 ± 1.3 19.5 ± 8.4 40.1 ± 3.4 36.2 ± 0.4 53.0 ± 0.3 12.3 ± 4.4
PO4 3− -P (%) 28.2 ± 0.6 56.5 ± 0.2 22.4 ± 0.1 54.4 ± 0.1 35.3 ± 0.1 56.6 ± 0.1 18.8 ± 1.3

Values are mean ± standard deviation (n = 5).

 M. Kumari, B.D. Tripathi / Ecological Engineering 62 (2014) 48–53 51

biodegradation of pollutants from olive mill wastewater by the higher area root zone of E. crassipes, which not only provide larger
white-rot fungus Panus tigrinus. However, in the present study area for decomposers but also help in nutrient and other elemental
reduction in COD was much higher (Table 2) than 60.9% as reported absorption. Higher absorption of nutrients may be associated with
by Annibale et al. (2006). The present findings are also supported accelerated microbial degradation of organic pollutants as a result
by Dong et al. (2012), who observed 81% and 87% reduction in to synergistic of action of both the plant species.
COD and ammonia in continuously aerated system, while 57% for
total phosphorus removed in intermediately aerated constructed
wetland from heavily polluted river water. The possible reason for
higher removal of nitrogen (NO3 − -N and TKN) in aerated culture
might be due to increased rate of nitrification and denitrification
processes under aerated condition. The preferential sequence of
mean removal of wastewater pollutants was: BOD5 > COD > PO4 3− -
P > TKN > NO3 − -N. The reduction of organic pollutants (BOD5 and
COD) was maximum followed by inorganic pollutants (NO3 − -N,
TKN and PO4 3− -P).

3.2. Role of plants in the removal of wastewater pollutants

In view of the role of selected plant species in the removal of

organic and inorganic pollutants, E. crassipes and S. natans alone
and their mixed culture showed a higher removal of BOD5 , COD,
NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P than the unplanted and non-aerated
culture (Table 2). Similar findings were also reported by Klomjek
and Nitisoravut (2005), who noted higher reduction in BOD5
(72.4–78.9%) and total phosphorus (28.9–44.9%) in units planted
with emergent plants as compared to the unplanted one. Present
findings were also supported by Gikas and Tsihrintzis (2012),
where planted constructed wetland showed higher removal of
BOD5 (49.4%), COD (47.7%), TKN (45.3%) and orthophosphate
(19.3%) as compared to unplanted wetlands.
The possible reason for higher reduction of BOD and COD in
the plant culture set might be due to plant root system, which
acts as suitable media for microbial growth providing oxygenic
condition in the rhizosphere for microbial degradation of organic
pollutants. The higher reduction of NO3 − -N and TKN in the planted
culture might be attributed to the mechanism for nitrogen removal
includes microbial nitrification–denitrification processes as well
as plant uptake. Regarding PO4 3− -P removal, the selected plant
species play a significant role in addition to precipitation and
adsorption as reported by Vymazal (2007).
Regarding the performance of selected plant species, E. cras-
sipes performed better than S. natans for the removal of BOD5 , COD,
NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P (Table 2). Higher removal of NO3 − -N
from synthetic medium and ground water by E. crassipes as com-
pared to Pistia stratiotes and Salvinia molesta has also been reported
by Ayyasamy et al. (2009).
The possible reason for higher removal of organic and inorganic
pollutants by E. crassipes might be due to the specific morphology
of E. crassipes with broader leaves and larger root zone area, which
helped in higher absorption of nutrients as compared to smaller
leaves and root zone of S. natans.
In the present study, there was a significant enhancement in
BOD5 , COD, NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P removal in mixed E. cras-
sipes and S. natans cultures as compared to individual culture of
E. crassipes and S. natans (Table 2). Similar findings were reported
by Tripathi and Upadhyay (2003), who observed that in the mixed
culture of Eichhornia crassipes and L. minor, a greater reduction in
nitrogen and phosphorus from the secondary treated dairy efflu-
ent was achieved. In the present study, 84.5% removal of COD in the
mixed culture was higher than 58. 7% COD removal as reported by
Tripathi and Tripathi (2011), this clearly reflects greater removal
capacity of selected plant species.
The possible reason for higher removal of pollutants by mixed E.
Fig. 2. Relationship between retention time and (a) BOD; (b) TKN; and (c) PO4 3− -
crassipes and S. natans culture might be that during mixed culture P in non-aerated mixed cultures (NAMC) and aerated mixed culture (AMC) of E.
experiment, low area root zone of S. natans is associated with the crassipes and S. natans.
52 M. Kumari, B.D. Tripathi / Ecological Engineering 62 (2014) 48–53

3.3. Relationship between retention time and removal of Appendix A. Supplementary data
pollutants
Supplementary material related to this article can be
There is a continuous decrease in BOD5 , TKN and PO4 3− -P con- found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
centration with retention time in the mixed culture of E. crassipes j.ecoleng.2013.10.007.
and S. natans irrespective of aeration during 72 h of experiment
(Fig. 2). The reduction of BOD5 , COD, NO3 − -N, TKN and PO4 3− -P References
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