Performance of two ornamental plants for purifying eutrophication materials in urban riverway sewages

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to test the effect of two ornamental plants: Philodendron selloum (Ps) and Philodendron ‘Xanadan’ (PX) on removing nitrogen, phosphorus and organic contamination from urban riverway sewages. The results indicated that the effect is remarkable. The removal rate of TN (total nitrogen), TP (total phosphorous) and COD cr (chemical oxygen demand) were 27.41%, 61.40%, 12.44% (Ps) and 32.49%, 62.46%, 14.67% (PX) respectively in 30d. The average net removal rate of TN in first 5d was 73.3mg/(d·kg) and 56.24mg/ (d·kg) by Ps and PX, respectively, and it was up to 15.89mg/(d·kg) and 15.34mg/ (d·kg) for TP by two plants. The average net removal rate of COD cr in first 5d was 757.95mg/(d·kg) by Ps and 726.59mg/ (d·kg) by PX Two plants not only grew well, but also had high removal rate of eutrophication materials such as nitrogen and phosphorus. It is provided that planting PX and PS in urban riverway sewages is feasible to convert eutrophication materials into valuables and improve water quality.