An assessment of phytoremediation capacity of Eichhornia crassipes and Typha capensis for the removal of total dissolved solids in plastic recycling industry wastewater.

: The phytoremediation potential of two macrophytic plants, E.crassipes and T.capensis were evaluated for their capacity to remove total dissolved solids (TDS) from a plastic recycling industrial effluent. The effluent was collected from a plastics recycling company in Harare, Zimbabwe. Experimental design was used in the research and the pants were grown in 2.5L plastic pots. The experiment consisted of 8 treatments with replicates. TDS, electrical conductivity and pH were measured every day for 15 days and proline accumulation in plant leaves was analyzed every 2 days alongside wastewater treatment. A t-test analysis was used for testing the data for significance difference. Result show that T.capensis had reduced TDS by 77.3% in diluted and 69.3% in undiluted effluent while E.crassipes, also remarkable TDS reduction of 65.1% in diluted and 57.8% in undiluted effluent. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference at p < 0.05 for the two plants. TDS reduction by both plants was accompanied by an increase in pH and decrease electrical conductivity. Waste water only and wastewater + soil controls showed a TDS concentration decreased of 5.0 % and 42.1% after treatment which may be due to microbial activity. Proline accumulation for both plants in undiluted effluent (30.05% in Typha spp. and 19.04% in Eichhornia spp.) is an indication of high TDS stress capability of the two plants. The proline concentration results show significant difference between day 0 and day 6 at p < 0.05.