Heavy Metals Phytoremediation from Urban Waste Leachate by the Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

Abstract

The use of plants for remediation of soils and waters contaminated with heavy metals has gained acceptance in the past two decades as a cost-effective and noninvasive technique. In this study, the effectiveness of Common Reed for phytoremediation of heavy metals from municipal waste leachate was investigated. The plants were transplanted into pots containing 10 L of mixed urban waste leachate and water (mixed 80 percentages of waste leachate with 20 % of water; V:V) and aerated during experiments. Central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were used in order to clarify the nature of the response surface in the experimental design and explain the optimal conditions of the independent variables. In the optimum conditions, the amount of removed Fe, Mn, Cu, and Ni were 25.049, 9.623, 6.112, and 0.900 mg/kg, and Translocation Factor (TF) in 24, 48, and 72 h experiment were 0.47, 0.45, 0.34, 0.38, 1.17, 0.89, 0.69, 0.42, 1.30, 1.12, 1.10, and 1.01 for each heavy metal (Fe, Mn, Cu, and Ni), respectively. The findings showed that Phragmites australis is an effective accumulator plant for phytoremediation of these metals.