Hydrophytes in municipal wastewater treatment and limitation

Off-site wastewater treatment at low cost is a burning issue in developing countries. Use of water hyacinth and duckweed have been tried world wide and the findings of its efficiency have been found promising. The concept has become old but the work with duckweed is still continuing at different levels. Time has come to arrive at a conclusive policy/decision to the extent this water hyacinth (Eichhorina crassipes) or duckweed (Lemna) may be utilised. The guidelines in respect of the design parameter and Operation – Maintenance schedule should be available to the community. For the strategy of wide scale success of such system the involvement of NGO’s and community participantion should be inducted from the initial stage. Different aspects have been discussed in the text to arrive at a conclusion upto what extent and at what level the system of hydrophyte based waste-water treatment will have wider use by the community.