Designing efficient floating bed options for the treatment of eutrophic water

Abstract

Developing solutions for lake eutrophication has emerged as a priority area to address the loss of ecosystem balance, reduction in aquatic biodiversity, and the potential production of toxins. Floating bed solutions offer an effective methodology to address this issue. This study uses rice straw as a base for floating bed treatment. Treatment of simulated eutrophic water was analyzed with and without plants in combination with rice straw beds (RS and RS + P). Treatment efficiency was also tested under increased aeration conditions (RS + A). Results demonstrated that average removal efficiencies of the ecological beds assembled with plant and aerator ranged from 81 to 82%, 80 to 85%, 78 to 86%, 61 to 69% for COD, NH4+-N, NO3−-N, and phosphates, respectively. The microbial community structure was also analyzed from the water samples taken from ecological beds assembled with plant and aerator by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the above results, systems assembled with plants and aerators proved to be efficient for the treatment of eutrophic water.