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Quick Removal of Suspended Cadmium from Irrigation Water Using Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)-Phosphoric Fertilizer

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Abstract

The rapid decontamination of farmland irrigation water polluted with heavy metals has attracted a great deal of attention. This paper addressed the removal of trace suspended cadmium (Cd) from irrigation water by using the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and the phosphate fertilizer (WH-PF). Compared with control samples, Cd removal rate was 12 times higher in the presence of Eichhornia crassipes; furthermore, removal rate rose 36 times after application of WH-PF. A 40 μg/L Cd in irrigation water was reduced to less than 3.5 μg/L within two treatment hours, with the removal efficiency of 91%. Both the root exudates of Eichhornia crassipes and phosphate fertilizers decreased the zeta potential of suspended substance (SS) and increased its size, resulting in accelerating sedimentation. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC–MS) revealed the presence of large volumes of amino-containing organic matter in the root exudates, such as 2,7-diamino-5-((3-(1-amino-1-carboxypropan-2-yl)-1,4-dihydroquinolin-7-yl)methyl)-6-methyl-7-oxoheptanoi acid, 1H-Indole-3-carboxaldehyde, which played important role in neutralizing charges of the SS. Additionally, phosphate fertilizers can decrease the zeta potential of SS by increasing the Fe3+/Fe2+ value. And then the phosphate-iron-hydroxyl-formed multinuclear polymer with network structure can rapidly flocculate the suspended Cd. Our study demonstrated that a WH-PF technology can quickly and effectively remove suspended Cd from farmland irrigation water.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

Abbreviations

SS:

Suspended substance

WH-PF:

Water hyacinth and the phosphate fertilizer

CKE-Water:

Water in Eichhornia crassipes pool

CK-Water:

Pond water without Eichhornia crassipes

CK:

CK-Water samples with Cd concentration of 40 μg/L

CKE:

CKE-Water samples with Cd concentration of 40 μg/L

E-0.75P:

CKE samples with K2HPO4 concentration of 0.75 g/L

E-1.5P:

CKE samples with K2HPO4 concentration of 1.5 g/L

CK-0.75P:

CK samples with K2HPO4 concentration of 0.75 g/L

CK-1.5P:

CK samples with K2HPO4 concentration of 1.5 g/L

TOC:

Total organic carbon

TP:

Total phosphorus

TN:

Total nitrogen

GC-MS:

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer

R :

Removal rate (μg/(L h))

C i :

The initial Cd concentration (μg/L)

C s :

The Cd standard concentration required by National Irrigation Water Quality Standards (μg/L)

t :

The time from initial contact to final reaching the standard value (h)

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Funding

For financial support, we are grateful to National Natural Science Joint Fund (U20A20108), Technology Innovation Leading Plan (Science and Technology Tackling) of Hunan Province, China (2020NK200101), Hunan Education Department Projects (20C0948), and Hunan Provincial Youth Backbone Teacher Plan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China

    Liang Peng, Shaoning Chen, Huijuan Song, Mingyang Zheng, Si Luo & Boqing Tie

  2. Center for Irrigation Water Purification, Hunan Engineering and Technology Research, Changsha, 410128, People’s Republic of China

    Liang Peng, Shaoning Chen, Huijuan Song, Mingyang Zheng, Si Luo & Boqing Tie

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  1. Liang Peng
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  2. Shaoning Chen
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Correspondence to Liang Peng.

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Peng, L., Chen, S., Song, H. et al. Quick Removal of Suspended Cadmium from Irrigation Water Using Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)-Phosphoric Fertilizer. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 356 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06365-x

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