Purification of eutrophic water containing chlorpyrifos by aquatic plants and its effects on planktonic bacteria

Abstract In this study, the removal of nutrients and chlorpyrifos as well as shifts of planktonic bacterial communities in constructed microcosms were investigated to evaluate the influence of Phragmites australis , Nymphaea alba , and Myriophyllum verticillatum , and their combination, on the restoration of eutrophic water containing chlorpyrifos. Plant-treated groups showed a higher pollutant removal rate than did no-remediation controls, indicating that treatment with plants is effective at remediation of eutrophic water containing chlorpyrifos. Different plants showed different performance on the remediation of eutrophic water, e.g., P. australis manifested stronger capacity for removal of sediment chlorpyrifos. This finding indicated that an appropriate plant combination is needed to deal with complex wastewater. During the treatments, the planktonic bacterial communities were influenced by the concentrations of nutrients and pollutants. The changes of composition of bacterial communities indicated a strong correlation between the bacterial communities and the concentrations of pollutants. The plants also influenced the planktonic bacterial communities, especially at the early phase of treatments. For example, P. australis increased the abundance of Limnohabitans and Nevskia significantly and decreased the abundance of Devosia , Luteolibacter , Methylibium , and Caulobacter significantly. The abundance of Hydrocarboniphaga significantly increased in N. alba -treated microcosms, whereas in M. verticillatum -treated microcosms, the abundance of Limnohabitans and Bdellovibrio significantly increased. Our results suggest that the planktonic bacterial communities may be altered during phytoremediation, and the functions of the affected bacteria should be concerned.