Water Hyacinth Research Articles

Performance evaluation of hybrid constructed wetlands for nitrogen removal and statistical approaches.

Nitrogen pollution in water bodies has become a pressing environmental and public health issue worldwide, demanding the implementation of effective nitrogen removal strategies. This research paper delves into the performance evaluation of hybrid constructed wetlands (HCWs) as a sustainable and innovative approach for nitrogen removal, employing a comprehensive year-long dataset gathered from a practical setup. The study collected data under diverse operating conditions to investigate the effectiveness of HCWs in removing nitrogen. Results revealed that HCWs achieved nitrogen removal efficiencies ranging from 28% to 65%, influenced by temperature and hydraulic retention time. Optimal removal occurred at an average temperature of 28°C and a 4-day hydraulic retention time. Notably, performance declined during colder periods, with temperatures below 15°C. The study also aims to predict nitrogen removal by three modeling techniques, that is, artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machines Pearson VII kernel function (SVM PUK), and multiple linear regression (MLR). Prediction has been done considering temperature (TEMP), hydraulic loading rate (HLR), initial concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (CODin), initial concentration of total nitrogen (TNin ), initial concentration of total phosphorous (TPin ), and initial concentration of turbidity (TBin ) as input parameters, whereas reduction of total nitrogen (RED TN) is regarded as output parameter. The performance of the soft computing techniques has been compared in terms of coefficient of determination (R2 ), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). The analysis revealed that the performance of the SVM (PUK) model (R2 : 0.572, RMSE: 0.0359, MAE: 0.0294) for the prediction of TN reduction is superior followed by MLR (R2 : 0.562, RMSE: 0.0365, MAE: 0.0294) and ANN (R2 : 0.597, RMSE: 0.0377, MAE: 0.0301). The present study concludes that the treated effluent by the HCWs, using water hyacinth and water lettuce, is of fair quality, thus having potential application for the treatment of rice mill wastewater in warmer climates. Further, machine learning approaches employed in estimating the total nitrogen reduction by HCWs technology have shown promising applicability and utilization in such studies. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Hybrid constructed wetlands (HCWs) are effective in removing nitrogen from wastewater. The performance of HCWs in nitrogen removal can vary due to physical, chemical, and biological processes. The performance of the HCWs highly depends on temperature and hydraulic retention time. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines (SVMs) provided better predictions of nitrogen removal with high accuracy and low root mean square error.

The effect of nanomaterials in the treatment of medical waste in hospitals

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the amount of medical waste produced, which poses a serious threat to the environment. Within such waste, the presence of antibiotics, which are now widely used, poses a potential threat to human health. This paper investigates the ability of Fe–Mn-NAM adsorbent material made from water hyacinth extract, iron chloride, and manganese sulfate, to adsorb the antibiotics norfloxacin (NOR) and ofloxacin (OFLX) in medical solid waste. Experimental results indicated that the specific surface area of the Fe–Mn-NAM nanosorbent material was 32.56 m2/g, with an average pore volume of 0.083 cm3/g and an average pore size of 3.21 nm. The amount of antibiotics adsorbed by Fe–Mn-NAM peaked under weakly alkaline conditions, and the capacity of the material to adsorb NOR significantly exceeded that for OFLX. There was a negative correlation between the amount of Fe–Mn-NAM adsorbent material added and the adsorption of NOR and OFLX, and a positive correlation with the antibiotic removal rate. At the same adsorbent dosage, the amount of adsorption and the removal rate of NOR by the Fe–Mn-NAM adsorbent material were significantly higher than for OFLX. Through electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, surface complexation, and surface hydrophobicity, the Fe–Mn-NAM adsorbent material demonstrated a certain capacity to treat and eliminate NOR and OFLX in medical solid waste.

Effects of invasive water hyacinth on fish diversity and abundance in the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, Nepal

Effects of invasive water hyacinth on fish diversity and abundance in the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, Nepal

Ekonomi Kreatif Kerajinan Eceng Gondok Di Desa Cihampelas Sebagai Sumber Belajar IPS

Social studies teachers often rely on conventional learning resources, primarily textbooks, including electronic books, and student worksheets available in the library. The utilization of varied learning resources by teachers is relatively limited. Therefore, this study aims to achieve four objectives: 1) Describe the home industry of water hyacinth crafts. 2) Explore the connection between water hyacinth crafts and the creative economy of the Cihampelas village community. 3) Investigate the integration of home industry water hyacinth crafts as social studies learning resources. 4) Identify the challenges faced by the home industry of water hyacinth crafts in contributing to the creative economy and propose solutions for their utilization as social studies learning resources. This research adopts a descriptive qualitative approach and is conducted in Cihampelas Village. The findings reveal that the process of incorporating the water hyacinth craft home industry as an environmentally-based learning resource involves social studies teachers initially analyzing the relevant educational standards before conducting field visits. For instance, in the case of Class IX, Basic Competency 3.3, which focuses on the development of creative economies based on the regional potential for community welfare, the material can be linked to the local environment, such as Cihampelas Village's utilization of water hyacinth crafts derived from the Saguling reservoir, contributing to the community's creative economy. This approach ensures the relevance of the activities to the water hyacinth craft home industry in Cihampelas Village.

The Effect of Habitat Manipulation on Early Gonad Maturation of Channa striata in Captive Condition

Background: With remarkable growth in aquaculture, the need for system diversification and species diversification has been demanded by the producers to gain fruitful output in terms of profit. Striped murrel, Channa striata has been identified as a suitable species for modern aquaculture systems in terms of species diversification due to their fast growth rate, air-breathing nature, higher market price and consumer acceptance. The major bottlenecks in seed production of murrel are captive maturation and short spawning window. To overcome these problems, an attempt was made to achieve early gonadal maturity of striped murrel in captive conditions by intervening in the brooder rearing habitat. Methods: In this regard, four habitats were tested in duplicates, namely T1 - Tank with clean reservoir water without macrophytes and soil base, T2 - Tanks provided with floating (Water hyacinth, Eichhornia sp) and submerged (Waterthyme, Hydrilla sp) aquatic macrophytes without any soil base, T3- Tanks provided with only soil base (15-20 cm) without any macrophytes and T4 - Tanks provided with both soil base and macrophytes. Result: At the end of the three-months rearing phase, the fishes provided with macrophytes and soil base (T4) resulted in early maturation characterized by an egg size of around 1.29±0.21 mm and the majority of late granular stage oocytes and spermatozoa in ovary and testes, respectively. The results concluded that providing a bottom soil base of 15-20 cm and covering the 20-30% water spread area using aquatic macrophytes in the brood rearing tank helped in the gonadal maturation of striped murrel during pre-monsoon in captive conditions.

Efficiency and mechanism of adsorption for imidacloprid removal from water by Fe-Mg co-modified water hyacinth-based biochar: Batch adsorption, fixed-bed adsorption, and DFT calculation

In the study, iron (Fe, III) and magnesium (Mg, II) co-modified water hyacinth-based biochar (Fe/Mg–WHBC) to adsorb imidacloprid from water was prepared by using water hyacinth as raw material, and Fe and Mg salts as modifiers. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of Fe/Mg–WHBC (114 mg/g) was greatly improved, 15.34 times that of the unmodified water hyacinth biochar (WHBC, 7.41 mg/g). The imidacloprid adsorption of Fe/Mg–WHBC follows the pseudo-secondary-kinetics and Sips adsorption isotherm. The mechanisms of Fe/Mg–WHBC adsorption for imidacloprid included surface complexation, hydrogen bonding, π–π interaction, electrostatic interaction, and pore-filling. DFT calculation indicates that surface complexation between the metal oxides on Fe/Mg–WHBC and imidacloprid has been the major adsorption mechanism. The Fe/Mg–WHBC had good adsorption efficiency for a variety of pollutants, environmental safety, stability, and reusability. Moreover, the adsorption efficiency pattern of Fe/Mg–WHBC for different target pollutants was verified by the DFT calculation on the binding energy of biochar to the pollutants. The bench scale fixed-bed adsorption experiments indicated that the BJP model could better describe the dynamic adsorption behavior of imidacloprid in the biochar fixed bed. The penetration time was only reduced by 27.6% after five adsorption-regeneration cycles of the fixed-bed. Overall, this study demonstrated that the Fe/Mg–WHBC adsorption to remove imidacloprid from water could be potentially applicable in water treatment engineering.

Pembuatan Gum Xanthan dengan Proses Fermentasi dari Hidrolisat Selulosa Eceng Gondok dan Penerapannya dalam Enhanced Oil Recovery

Water hyacinth is a freshwater plant that has a negative impact on waters, but has a high cellulose content (77.6%) and is still underutilized. One alternative in controlling the amount of water hyacinth is to utilize its potential cellulose content as an ingredient in xanthan gum. Fermentation was carried out with the help of Xanthomonas campestris and xanthan gum was obtained, which can be used as a polymer injection material to increase crude oil production in the oil refinery industry. The stages to obtain xanthan gum are delignification, hydrolysis, and anaerobic fermentation (28 °C) with a time variation of 24 hours to 120 hours with an interval of 24 hours. The cellulose hydrolysate variable is 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, and 2.5%. The yield of xanthan gum in this research was 18%, with a moisture content was 13% – 15% and an ash content was 3% –3.9%. The resulting xanthan gum was analyzed for its functional groups using Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) and was in agreement with commercial xathan gum.

EFFICIENCY OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT WITH WATER HYACINTH EICHORNIA CRASSIPES

Prevention of pollution of effluents of water bodies and the environment in general, as well as surface water protection from pollution by untreated wastewater are priority tasks facing humanity today. To achieve an optimal solution, it is necessary to use new technologies or an effective combination of existing methods at operating sewage treatment plants. It has been established that a greater amount of wastewater occurs in the warm period of the year, respectively, and the load on treatment facilities increases. As a result of the analysis of data on wastewater composition indicators, it has been concluded that the concentrations of most pollutants increase during the warm period. Therefore, to improve the quality of purified water, it is proposed to use water hyacinth (Eichornia) together with reeds, which is used on operating biological ponds. This will make it possible to carry out additional wastewater treatment effectively, compensating for the lack of efficiency of treatment facilities. The paper presents the results of experimental studies of the higher aquatic plant Eichornii in vitro by helding a model experiment with subsequent implementation at the research object. The adaptability of water hyacinth to reservoir conditions, as well as to coastal and aquatic vegetation, have been studied. The results have proved the possibility of using reeds and Eichornia together at a wastewater treatment plant. The indicators of the qualitative composition of wastewater after treatment meet the requirements of SanPiN 2.1.3684-21.

An Ecological Assessment of Invasive Alien Plant Species in Jokhar Lake Area of Kailali District, Nepal

Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) have been creating adverse impacts on native diversity. Diversity of Nepal’s wetland ecosystems are also threatened by several IAPS but the related studies are very scarce. This study has assessed the status of IAPS found in Jokhar Lake of Kailali district, Nepal. The IAPS survey was carried out by sampling 30 plots of (1×1)m2 each in and around the lake area. A total of 17 species of IAPS were reported from the study site. Most of the IAPS were the members of the family Asteraceae. The diversity of IAPS in the lake represents about 65% of the total IAPS in Nepal. Around the lake periphery, Ageratum houstonianum and Argemone mexicana and inside the lake Eichornia crassipes and Pistia stratiotes were major IAPS. The natural beauty of the lake has been ruined by these IAPS. A detailed study on the impacts and ecology of these IAPS in the lake and lake periphery is still lacking. Hence, it is recommended that the IAPS in the lake area should be controlled to conserve the native diversity and the natural beauty of the lake.

Local Communities’ Perceptions about the Impacts of Water Hyacinth Infestation in Lake Victoria on Economic Activities in Nyalenda B Ward, Kisumu County, Kenya

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is ranked as one of the most invasive weeds causing negative effects on aquatic ecosystems around the world. In the last decades, there has been increased interest in the impacts of water hyacinth and how it can be utilised in various applications such as animal feeds and fertiliser production, wastewater treatment, biofuel production and as raw material for handicraft products. The objectives of this study are: (i) to determine the impacts of water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria on the economic activities of the local community living in Nyalenda B Ward, Kisumu County, Kenya, and (ii) to assess the methods which can be used to control water hyacinth in the lake. The study used a descriptive research design. The study involved the collection of data through observation, questionnaires, and interviews. The study found that water hyacinth infestation in the lake mainly impacted economic activities such as fishing, tourism, weaving and biogas production. Fewer respondents (<20 %) utilised water hyacinths to make animal feeds and to produce fertiliser. The most preferred methods for controlling water hyacinth were manual and mechanical methods. The utilisation of water hyacinth in various industrial applications such as pulp and paper production, wastewater treatment and agriculture needs to be explored and scaled up by the relevant government agencies to contribute towards the economic wellbeing of local communities and environmental conservation of Lake Victoria

Effect of Water Hyacinth Compost and Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur Fertilizers on S-Availability, S-Uptake, and Quality and Yield of Onion (Allium ascalonicum L.) on Inceptisols of Jatinangor

Shallots are have a high potential in Indonesian agricultural land. Soil in Indonesia is dominated by Inceptisols, which is low in soil fertility. This can be managed by adding nutrients to soil to increase its fertility, which can have a good effect on quality and crop yields. This experiment's purpose was to find the dosage of water hyacinth compost and N, P, K, S fertilizers that can give the best results for available S, S uptake, quality,and the yield of Batu Ijo variety of shallots in Inceptisols of Jatinangor and were carried out in the Soil Chemistry Laboratory, Plant Nutrition Experimental Garden, Faculty of Agriculture, Padjadjaran University, Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia from June to September 2020. The experiment used a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with seven treatments and four replications, namely: control; Recommended N, P, K, S; ¾ Recommendations of N, P, K, S; ½ compost + ¾ dose of N, P, K, S; compost + ¾ dose of N, P, K, S; 1½ compost + ¾ dose of N, P, K, S; and compost + N, P, K, S at dosage of 25 t ha-1 water hyacinth compost, 200 kg urea, 500 kg Ammonium Sulphate, 300 kg SP-36, 200 kg KCl. The results showed that ½ compost + ¾ dose of N, P, K, S gave the best result by increasing S-avallability, S-uptake, aroma, color, number of bulbs, fresh weight, and dry weight of shallots bulbs on Inceptisols of Jatinangor.

Adsorption of lead(II) ions using KOH-activated carbon derived from water hyacinth

ABSTRACT. In this study, the adsorption of Pb(II) ions onto potassium hydroxide activated carbon derived from water hyacinth leaf (KOH-AC-WHL) is described. KOH-AC-WHL was characterized using FT-IR spectrometry. The adsorption kinetics and equilibrium were investigated using square wave anodic striping voltammetry (SWASV) for monitoring Pb(II) ions. The adsorption kinetics showed a better fit with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model with good linear correlation coefficients (R2) value of 0.999 compared to R2 value of 0.760 for a pseudo-first-order kinetics. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to fit the adsorption experimental data. A better correlation with the Langmuir model was observed with R2 value of 0.994 compared to the R2 value of 0.986 for the Freundlich model. Hence, the maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for Pb(II) ions was calculated from the Langmuir isotherm and found to be 206 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters were determined and their values showed that the adsorption of Pb(II) ions on KOH-AC-WHL was spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorbent material effectively removed Pb(II) ions from 100 μg/L of Pb(II) simulated wastewater to the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible level of 10.0 μg/L within 30 min. The reusable efficiency of KOH-AC-WHL was found to be 73% after four consecutive cycles.
 KEY WORDS: Lead(II) ions, Activated carbon, Water hyacinth, Adsorption
 Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2023, 37(6), 1369-1382.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v37i6.6

Quality and storability of onion (Allium cepa L.) as influenced by varieties and household organic mulches

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of varieties and household organic mulches on growth and yield of onion at the Horticulture Farm of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from October 2020 to March 2021. The experiment consisted of three onion cultivars of Bangladesh viz. Taherpuri, BARI Piaz 1 and BARI Piaz 4, and five household organic mulches, viz. T0 = Control (no mulching), T1 = vegetables wastes, T2 = rice straw, T3 = banana leaf and T4 = water hyacinth. The two-factor experiment was carried out in Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications. Results revealed that the parameters under study showed significant variation between onion varieties and mulching. Results showed that the highest percent of weight loss of bulbs (31.19%) was observed in V3T4 followed by V3T1 (29.89%) and the lowest percentage of weight loss of bulbs (24.66%) was observed in V1T1. The highest percentage of dry matter content of bulb (13.13%) was recorded in V3T4 followed by V3T1 (12.54%) and the lowest percent dry matter content of bulb (8.08%) was observed in V1T0. The highest percentage of splitted bulb (10.33%) was observed in V3T4 followed by V3T1 (9.33%) and the lowest percentage of splitted bulb (1.33%) was observed in V1T0 (Table 4). On the other hand, the highest percentage of rotten bulb (9.00%) was observed in V3T0 followed by V2T0 (8.33%) and the lowest percentage of rotten bulb (2.00%) in V1T2. Therefore, the combined use of water hyacinth along with Taherpuri was found to be better with respect to the quality and storability of onion. Res. Agric. Livest. Fish. Vol. 10, No. 2, August 2023: 123-131

Thermal performance and sound absorption capability of water hyacinth stems-based materials

The main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of water hyacinth stem as insulation material by analysing its thermal and acoustic performance. Several particleboards and composites were prepared by adding either binders or blending water hyacinth stem with other construction materials. During the preparation of the samples, various factors including sample thickness, average particle size of water hyacinth stem in the samples, degree of compaction, and type of binder used were taken into consideration. Particleboards manually compacted prepared with water hyacinth stem particles size range of 1–2 mm and a 14 mm thickness showed the lowest thermal conductivity coefficient and highest value of the weighted absorption coefficient. Additionally, composites prepared with water hyacinth stem particles mixed with gypsum reached lower thermal conductivity and higher sound absorption coefficient values than those observed for cement-based composites obtained under the same preparation conditions. The values found in this study and those published in the literature for other types of biomass materials suggest that water hyacinth stem has significant potential for use, either alone or in combination with other materials, as a thermal and acoustic conditioning material.

Utilization of Water Hyacinth as Organic Fertilizer on Kemaro Island, Palembang City

The water hyacinth is a free-floating aquatic plant. Water hyacinth has massive reproductive capacity, which causes several problems, including ecosystem destruction, irrigation problems, and its use as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which causes the mosquito population to increase. The high growth rate of water hyacinth is also a major problem faced by the people on Kemaro Island. The large number of water hyacinth plants on Kemaro Island causes environmental issues, such as slum settlements. Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang (Pusri) Ltd. is here to overcome this problem through a community empowerment program, namely the Sehat Sejahtera Program (Sesera). The methods used in this research are literature study, observation, and interviews. The research results show that the Sesera Program is able to reduce the number of water hyacinths that accumulate around the residences of Kemaro Island residents. Through the Sesera Program, Pusri empowers the community to utilize and process water hyacinth in order to reduce the number of water hyacinth growing around Kemaro Island. Activities carried out by utilizing water hyacinth to become compost. To maintain these impacts or benefits, the Sesera Program through water hyacinth composting activities needs to involve other stakeholders who are able to encourage and increase the impact of the program, such as the Village Government, City government, and agriculture service.

Use of decomposition products of Pontederia crassipes Mart., Solms (water yacinth) for inhibition of cyanobacteria growth: A full-scale study

Eutrophication exacerbates the growth of primary producers that may reduce water quality, such as macrophytes and cyanobacteria. The floating macrophyte Pontederia crassipes and the cyanobacterium Raphidiopsis raciborskii occur worldwide in eutrophic environments, but data on the inhibition of R. raciborskii by floating macrophytes are scarce. We aimed to test the inhibitory activity of P. crassipes on cyanobacterial growth, especially R. raciborskii. First, we tested the effect of live P. crassipes exudates and decomposing macrophyte extracts on a R. raciborskii strain under culture conditions. Cyanobacterial growth was not affected by the exudate from the live macrophyte. In contrast, exposure to decaying macrophyte extracts containing 4.0 and 6.0 mg L−1 total phenols completely inhibited cyanobacterial growth after five days and decreased photosynthetic activity. Mass spectrometry FT-IRC analysis led to the identification of some molecules in P. crassipes extracts, but no association with the inhibitory effect of the was identified. We then tested the inhibitory effect of P. crassipes in mesocosms containing a natural cyanobacterial bloom. The slow release of chemicals from the dry biomass over 12 days decreased chlorophyll concentrations. Finally, in a field experiment, we applied tons of P. crassipes dry biomass to large areas (900 m3) of a reservoir to test the release of chemicals into the water during one month. At the final time, the phenol concentration in the backwater region was close to the inhibitory value found for cyanobacterial growth and an inverse correlation was observed between chlorophyll and phenol concentrations. Thus, under natural conditions, the release of phenolic compounds and other allelochemicals from the decomposing material of macrophyte mats inhibits cyanobacterial growth. Macrophyte biomass, which is usually considered waste, might be used to mitigate cyanobacterial blooms and may be a promising new and sustainable biotechnological tool to improve water quality.

Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems of India: Current Trends and Future Perspectives.

Microplastics (MPs)-i.e., plastic particles less than 5 mm in length-are becoming a growing environmental concern due to their potential ecotoxicological impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In India, MPs contamination is a significantly growing problem due to increased plastic production as well as its low rate of recycling. As a result, MPs research work in India has gained considerable attention in the last two decades. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing scientific literature on MPs in freshwater ecosystems (e.g., lakes and rivers) of India. A bibliographical search was used to conduct the literature review across a number of databases including ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate. We found that in comparison to the marine ecosystem the source, transport, and fate of MPs in freshwater ecosystems of India are still underexplored, and we found only 18 relevant papers. This review work reveals that there is no standard procedure for separating MPs from water and sediment samples, and as a result, comparing the results was a challenging task. The larger MPs (>500 μm) in water and sediments were identified most commonly using the attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technique (ATR-FTIR), whereas smaller-sized MPs (<500 μm) were identified using FTIR fitted with a confocal microscope, also known as μ-FTIR imaging or chemical imaging. We found that white-colored fibers and fragments of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE) were the most common polymer types in the freshwater ecosystems of India. Although research on MPs in freshwater ecosystems of India has gained momentum over the past decade, the literature review reveals a limited understanding of the impact of MPs' weathering patterns, the role of biofouling, and the role of water hyacinths on freshwater ecosystem services in India. Furthermore, the fluxes of MPs to the Indian oceans are not constrained, and atmospheric transport in high-altitude mountains, which have already been made fragile by climate change, has not been fully investigated. This study, therefore, calls for additional assessments of MPs in freshwater ecosystems-particularly in the central parts of India.

Implementation of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in the re-treatment of conventionally treated pharmaceutical wastewater: a case study of Radiant Pharmaceuticals Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Since Bangladesh already has robust pharmaceutical industries, nearly all companies owned effluent treatment plant (ETP) facilities to improve the quality of wastewater. Water retreatment utilizing affordable, accessible, and environmentally sustainable techniques have not yet been thoroughly investigated. In this study, the potential of water hyacinth and water lettuce was investigated at three different concentrations: 50% of total volume coverages (1000g macrophytes/2000ml water), 75% of total volume coverages (1500g macrophytes/2000ml water), and 100% of total volume coverages (2000g macrophytes/2000ml water) on the post-treated ETP's wastewater for 3weeks in a mesocosm environment. Heavy metals, such as chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) along with physicochemical parameters (pH, EC, TDS, DO, and BOD5) were measured after 7days intervals. Results indicated that water hyacinth was considerably more efficient than water lettuce at removing many factors, including metals. Water hyacinth was able to remove 79.15% of nickel and 92.97% of chromium while also increasing DO and EC by 36.72% and 14.59%, respectively, at 100% of total volume coverages. On the other hand, 100% of the total volume coverage of water lettuce decreased the pH, TDS, and BOD5 readings by 6.70%, 31.62%, and 87.61%, respectively. With each treatment, the water quality significantly improved over the control. The findings suggest that the pharmaceutical industries may improve the quality of their treated wastewater even more by integrating phytoremediation technology with traditional ETP facilities.

Optimisation of Anaerobic Digestate and Chemical Fertiliser Application to Enhance Rice Yield—A Machine-Learning Approach

The present study evaluates the synergistic application of an anaerobic digestate for enhanced rice yield. The study utilised the digestate as a fertiliser with various inoculum-to-substrate (IS) ratios of anaerobic digestion from cow dung and water hyacinth (CW–BF) with combinations of NPK (16-22-22) fertiliser for rice yield optimisation. The outcome of the combined digestate and fertiliser application on rice cultivation was observed in terms of parameters such as the number of tillers, panicle number, panicle length, fertile panicles, and 1000-grain weight. The digestate combination of CW–BF:NPK (3:1:1) resulted in the highest grain yield (7521 kg/hectare) with increased panicle length, test weight, and more filled grains than the other combinations. Moreover, various machine-learning approaches were used to study the efficacy of the different combinations of applied fertiliser (cow dung, water hyacinth, and NPK). The gradient-boosting machine-learning model was appropriate for predicting the modelling based on the measured data. Principal component analysis revealed NPK as the first principal component with high loading values and the digestate as the second principal component, which indicates its crucial role in fertiliser preparation. Therefore, deploying such hybridised fertilisers using the proper statistical analysis and machine-learning approaches can improve rice yield, which would be essential for the socio-economic uplifting of marginal rice farmers.

Detection and mapping of the seasonal distribution of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and valorization as a biosorbent of Pb(II) in water.

In the present research, the presence of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) on the surface of the San Jose Dam located in the city of San Luis Potosi, S.L.P, Mexico, was monitored and mapped. The monitoring was conducted for 2 years (2018-2020) with remote sensing data from OLI Landsat 8 sensors, based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The results demonstrated the capability and accuracy of this method, where it was observed that the aboveground cover area, proliferation, and distribution of water hyacinth are influenced by climatic and anthropogenic factors during the four seasons of the year. As part of a sustainable environmental control of this invasive species, the use of water hyacinth (WH) root (RO), stem (ST), and leaf (LE) components as adsorbent material for Pb(II) present in aqueous solution was proposed. The maximum adsorption capacity was observed at pH 5 and 25 °C and was 107.3, 136.8, and 120.8 mg g-1 for RO, ST, and LE, respectively. The physicochemical characterization of WH consisted of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 physisorption, infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), charge distribution, and zero charge point (pHPZC). Due to the chemical nature of WH, several Pb(II) adsorption mechanisms were proposed such as electrostatic attractions, ion exchange, microprecipitation, and π-cation.