Treatment Of Ponds And Water Using Aquatic Plants
Wetland plants or aquatic plants are highly important in the treatment and cleaning of water. Our natural floras are very dynamic. Just as certain domestic plants help clean up surrounding air, so can certain aquatic plants clean up our ponds and water gardens.
Aquatic plants can boost water bodies for fish, by absorbing carbon-dioxide and giving out oxygen in the water. But not only that, they can also absorb nutrients from the water too. Absorption of the water nutrients by the plants helps clean the water and make the water have less algae and impurities.
To naturally treat our ponds without chemicals for instance, aquatic plants are the key. Aquatic plants can reduce the algae colony and also consume the fish’s waste product, thereby providing a natural filtration and treatment mechanism.
A variety of plants naturally carry out this treatment and filtering process. Such aquatic plants include;
1.) Flowering Shoreline Plants - E.g. the Golden cannas
The Golden cannas blossom from spring to fall, possess bright yellow flowers, paddle-shaped leaves and can grow to about 4 feet in height.
In the U.S Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones, they have a hardiness of 8 to 11.
The “Bengal Tiger” canna hybrid with pale yellow leaves and bright orange leaves grow to 5 feet in height and is hardy in USDA zones of 8 to 12.
2.) Grass-Type Shoreline Plants – E.g Bulrushes and rushes
Bulrushes and rushes are efficient in water treatment and filtration.
The ‘bulrushes’ grow in 3 inches of water, have a USDA hardiness zone 3 to 9, and can remove excess nutrients, oil and bacteria from water.
The ‘rushes’ blossom in summer, rid water of heavy metals like zinc, copper and nickel, and are 1 to 5 feet in height.
3.) Floating Plants – E.g. Tropical water lilies, hardy water lilies and water poppies
Tropical waterlilies, Hardy waterlilies and Water poppies are hardy in USDA zone 10 to 12, 4 to 10 and 9 to 11 respectively.
Tropical Waterlilies grow in water of 9 to 16 inches, hardy waterlilies grow in 1 to 4 feet of water, and water poppies grow in 6 to 10 inches of water.4.) Submerged Plants – E.g. Canadian pondweed and American wild celery
Waterweed (Canadian pondweed) grows from 6 inches to 5 feet deep of water and Tape or Eel grass (American wild celery) grows from 6 inches to 4 feet deep of water.
They are good water cleaners through their absorption of nutrients in the water also.Canadian waterweed should be used only in smaller ponds or water gardens where they can be controlled easily, because they can become invasive.
Benefits of water treatment using plants:
The plants serve as low-cost extraction and suction mechanism to purify polluted water.
Most times, plants have the ability to discompose particular wastes faster than microorganisms.
The procedure can help decontaminate large polluted and restricted areas if applied properly for lengthy periods.
Challenges of water purification using plants:
The procedure is time-consuming
The procedure is mainly applied to waters that are shallow to which roots can easily penetrate.
The plants are biologically limited in pollutants, compounds and metals they can capture.
Reference:
- http://homeguides.sfgate.com/aquatic-plants-purify-water-43531.html
- http://www.ozwatergardens.com.au/submerged-plants
- http://www.lmslp.com/plants4.htm
- https://www.velda.com/pond-maintenance/pond-plants/floating-plants/
Thank you for your time and for reading my post.
If you found this post interesting, then kindly UPVOTE, RESTEEM and FOLLOW @rickie, for more quality posts.
You Can Check Out My Other Posts Below:
- Electronic Cigarette: History, How it Works, and Risks
- A Smart-Phone Compatible System Detects Bacteria In Food
- With New Technology, Cancer Can Be Spotted Several Months Before It Occurs
- Synthetic Alcohol That Doesn't Give Hangover Will Replace Present-Day Alcohol In A Few Years
- Tomatoes and Apples Could Help Repair Lung Damage in Ex-Smokers
- Bacteria On Skin Can Aid Wound Healing
I need this info. I would like the treatment with plant. Seems cheaper.
Yea, it is pretty cheaper once the conditions are right. Thanks for visiting. @turpsy
Wow. The nature is truly a blessing, I never knew plants can serve as purification materials, I guess one will need to keep learning. thanks for sharing this. Kudos
Very true @seento. I was astounded at the plant purification mechanism too when i first came across it. We keep learning and discovering new things and phenomena everyday. Thanks for reading.
It's a good article. I can see an important application of genetics here. The modified plants would be able to absorb a wide variety of impurities. Just do a small research and see if you can find anyone working on this. That will be an interesting article to read.
Yea, i agree with you @cleanenergy, the plant purification mechanism can bring about great benefits in its application to various science fields, such as genetics. Thanks for reading.
Perfect work. Have nice day! Thanks rickie for sharing
Thanks for reading @htuan