Water decolourisation using a phytoremediation method: Ocimum basilicum as model

Abstract

Phytoremediation is the utilisation of plants to remove pollutants from a polluted media, such as soils and water. This method is an eco-friendly approach because it remediates water or soil from pollutants without chemical treatments or a chemical pre-treatment. For this reason, this method was used in this study to decolourise artificial water from a textile dye (methyl orange (MO)). The phytoremediation process was done using the Ocimum basilicum plant and continued for 30 days. The Ocimum basilicum plants were placed in plastic enclosures and exposed to 5 litres of coloured water (25 mg/L and 50 mg/L of OM) for the required duration. The enclosures were kept in a greenhouse with a controlled temperature (27±2°C), and 100 mL samples were taken from the enclosures every two days. The experiments showed that 1) the Ocimum basilicum plant removed 90% of the MO after 24 days when the MO dye concentration of 25 mg and 2) the MO dye in water decreases the relative growth rate of the Ocimum basilicum plant. This study concluded that the Ocimum basilicum plant is a promising alternative to removing dyes from water and should be adopted to reduce the effects of water pollution on the environment.