EFFECTIVITY OF POLLUTANT DECAY IN THE CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS BY USING WATER BAMBOO PLANTS (EQUISETUM HYEMALE)

Abstract

One of the problems in urban areas is the pollution of water sources. Unmanaged domestic waste in urban areas causes the waste to enter the main river system, causing river water pollution. One of the efforts that can be made to reduce the burden of water pollution is to use phytoremediation through constructed wetlands. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of water bamboo or Equisetum hyemale in pollutant removal. The rate of pollutant decay in constructed wetlands using water bamboo plants or Equisetum hyemale, modeled using 4th order Runge-Kutta. The study was conducted by taking water samples from constructed wetlands planted with Water Bamboo plants for a certain period. The parameters measured were DO, nitrate, phosphate, and ammonia. The concentrations of these parameters were analyzed using linear regression to determine the gradient of each equation (k). The gradient is a representation of the plant's ability to shed pollutants. The value of k is then used to calculate the change in concentration with time with the help of the Runge-Kutta numerical model of 4th order. Based on the regression results, the decay rate values for each parameter are 0.026/day for DO, 0.024/day for ammonia, 0.006 /day for phosphate, and 0.1214 /day for nitrate. This data is then entered into a numerical model which is solved by 4th order Runge-Kutta to obtain the change in concentration per unit time. When compared theoretically, pollutants in water bodies experience a decay pattern according to the theory. Based on the calculation of pollutant decay results in the field, it was found that the effectiveness of the constructed wetland in eliminating DO was 41.68%, ammonia was 60.49%, phosphate was 30.62%, and nitrate was 53.51%.