Evaluación de la capacidad de eichhornia crassipes (buchón de agua) y elodea canadensis (peste de agua) para la remoción de cobre (ii) en aguas contaminadas

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity of Eichhornia crassipes (water bug) and Elodea canadensis (water pest) for the removal of copper (II) in contaminated water, using solutions prepared with water from a natural source and copper sulfate. Copper (II) pentahydrate at concentrations of 10 ppm, 20 ppm and 30 ppm in three treatments, A, B and C, in a completely randomized design. For the experimental development of the study, a 25 m tunnel-type greenhouse was built, in which 20 containers were incorporated for the sowing, adaptation and growth of aquatic species to later test the evaluation of the metal removal capacity through a phytoremediation process by macrophyte species under a black polyethylene mesh cover that allowed controlling the temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation, each of the containers had permanent aeration and the addition of 1 ml of NEO SOLUTION 1 nutrient solution every 72 hours for 60 days. The most efficient copper (II) removal process in water was with Echhornia crassipes, which presented a higher metal removal in the three treatments, A, B and C, with values of 19%, 18.7%, 8.53% compared to Elodea canadensis with removal percentages of 18.7%; 8.05%; 4.57% for each treatment. Eichhornia crassipes and Elodea canadensis presented values higher than 1 in the TF, evidencing that the two species effectively transport Cu (11) from the root part to the aerial part and exclude Cu (II) for the reason that their bioaccumulation factor is less than 1. Therefore, it is concluded that these two species of aquatic plants are suitable for efficient phytoextraction processes at low concentrations.