Srinidhi S.U., Bibek Thingujam and Mohammed Zaid Wasiq
Abstract
Phytoremediation is a promising approach to treat leachate generated from landfills. It is a sustainable and cost-effective approach. In this study, the potential of Money Plant (Epipremnum aureum) in combination with alum as a coagulant for the treatment of leachate was investigated. The leachate was collected from a local landfill at Mittaganahalli in Bengaluru located in the Southern part of India. This landfill accommodates the waste from the city of Bengaluru and huge quantity of waste can be seen here that is either ending up in landfill or being processed or incinerated. The Money Plant was selected based on its ability to tolerate different environmental conditions and its reported effectiveness in removing pollutants from wastewater. This study was conducted in a controlled environment using laboratory-scale experimental setup. The experimental comparative assessment of effectiveness of Epipremnum aureum for Phyto-remediation and alum as a coagulant showed that with 95% removal of BOD and 90.4% removal of turbidity, phytoremediation through Epipremnum aureum is a sustainable and promising approach. The larger scale utilization of this method can further be studied for its efficiency in leachate treatment at Landfills.