Investigation of Uptake Capacity of Some Heavy Metals in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent by Some Aquatic Plants

The aim of this thesis is to determine the uptake capacity of some heavy metals by water hyacinth and water lettuce plants exposed to the effluents of advanced biological wastewater treatment plant. For this purpose, reactors were placed at the exit point of İstanbul Paşaköy Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant. Water hyacinth and water lettuce were added into the reactors. Samples were taken daily from plants and wastewater. According to the results obtained heavy metal concentrations in water hyacinth samples were followed by Ni>Cu>Cr>Co, and water lettuce samples were followed by Cu> Ni> Cr> Co. The uptake amounts of Cu, Ni and Cr heavy metals of water lettuce was higher than the uptake amounts of water hyacinth. It was determined that water lettuce and water hyacinth uptake Co heavy metal at similar amounts. The order of heavy metal concentrations in wastewater samples was Ni> Cu> Cr> Co. As a result, it was determined that water hyacinth and water lettuce exposed to the effluents of Paşaköy Advanced Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant accumulate some heavy metals and these plants could be used in phytoremediation. Key Words: Water hyacinth, Water lettuce, Phytoremediation, Heavy Metals, Wastewater, Treatment Plant