Valorisation of wasteaters - Macrophytes

In contrast with early approaches, XXI century environmental technologies aim to be less resources consuming concerning energy and materials. Therefore, there is growing interest in the use of different macrophyte species as a simple and energy efficient method of wastewater treatment. Plants have shown the capacity to withstand relatively high concentrations of chemicals and nutrients being able to transform the compounds into less toxic metabolites. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of two emergent macrophytes naturally occuring in Portugal, Phragmites australis and Iris pseudacorus, on the treatment of urban effluent through the characterisation of wastewater before and after the treatment, at physico-chemical and ecotoxicological levels. Experiments were carried out in a greenhouse under monitored conditions. Plantations of the two species were done oa a two layer bed of gravel (5 cm) and sand (25 cm) in tanks of 120 l. results of physico-chemical parameters and ecotoxicological evaluation of the wastewater will be presented and