earticle

영어

Phytoremediation is a green-plant mediated process that cleans up harmful pollutants from the environment as the plants accumulate the pollutants (Kole et al., 2010). Our previous study on freshwater algal growth in eutrophic conditions showed that overloading of nutrients leads to excess algal growth. Hence, the aim of this study was to show that when these nutrients are removed using Pandanus pygmaeus, a known hyperaccumulator, there would be reduced algal growth. P. pygmaeus was planted in three of five setups with different treatments. Different amounts of nitrates and phosphates, proven to allow maximum algal growth, were added to two of the setups containing the plants, and to two without plants. The biomass of each plant was determined before and after experimentation. Determination of removal of nutrients and the measurement of physical parameters were conducted weekly. Chlorophyll extraction, which establishes the degree of algal growth, was performed when the experiment ended. Results showed that the plants could reduce algal growth, and that the additional nutrients do not have significant adverse effects on plant growth. This proves that P. pygmaeus has a relatively high potential for removing nutrients, especially nitrates, thereby improving the quality of eutrophic waters and preventing algal blooms.