Wastewater pollution remediation: an experimental investigation with aquatic macrophyte Lemna minor

The freshwater resources are shrinking rapidly due to rise in population and discharge of untreated wastewater into fresh water bodies making them unfit for public use in many developing countries. Effective and affordable wastewater treatment has become a challenge, hence various alternatives are being investigated by researchers to tackle the problem. In this study, laboratory scale experiments on duckweed covered domestic sewage were carried out to evaluate the removal efficiency of duckweed species Lemna minor as a domestic wastewater stripper. The outdoor experiments were conducted in 4 mini ponds at Jodhpur, popularly known as Sun City of India. The physico-chemical properties of domestic wastewater were evaluated before and after inoculation of culture for wastewater quality improvement. Various parameters, namely pH, DO, TSS, TDS, Turbidity, BOD, COD, Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus were analysed for varying detention periods. The result indicated that the treated effluent can be used for irrigation.