Phytoremediation of Some Trace Metals in Polluted Water Using Duckweed

Abstract

This research work was aimed at using locally available plants (duckweed) to remove heavy metals in water samples from Woji Creek in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solid, oxidation reduction potential, and electrical conductivity of the water were assessed. The result of the physicochemical parameters showed that the mean value of the electrical conductivity (EC) was highest in June (46. 34±91. 5 µS/cm), temperature was high in June (27.9±1.0 oC), DO was highest in August (9.8±2.0 mg/l), pH had high value for July (7.4±0.7) and TDS for June (3548.0±1638.3 mg/l), which were lower than national and international permissible limit standard except for EC, DO and TDS. The uptake of cadmium by the roots of the duckweed was very high for station 4 (0.7 mg/kg) and shoots for station 4 (2.1 mg/kg). The most uptakes for the Copper by the roots was for station 4 (0.9 mg/kg) and shoot for station 5 (1.3 mg/kg). The percentage of uptake of Cd for the root of the duckweed was 19.3% while the shoots was 32.9% respectively. Cd had the highest accumulation of metals The duckweed plants were significantly good for phytoremediation agents and as such could be employed by industries for such purposes.