PubMed · 2026-06-01
Water hyacinth, an aggressive aquatic weed, can pull lead, cadmium, chromium, and nickel out of both domestic and industrial wastewater while also neutralizing pH and reducing salinity — making contaminated water safe enough to reuse in agriculture.
Water hyacinth accumulated up to 93% more lead and 89% more nickel in shoots compared to plants grown in clean water, showing strong uptake across four heavy metals.
Treated wastewater saw electrical conductivity drop by 0.78–1.46 dSm⁻¹ and pH stabilize between 7.53–7.87, improving quality for potential agricultural reuse.
Despite removing metals effectively, wastewater exposure reduced plant growth by 25–57% and physiological performance by 19–40%, confirming a real but manageable cost to the plant.
