THE ROLE OF Chenopodium album L. ON THE ON-SITE RECLAMATION OF SEWAGE SLUDGE LAGOONS

Abstract

In this study, the contribution of Chenopodium album L. to the reclamation of sewage sludge lagoons in Bursa East Municipal Wastewater Treat-ment Plants (Bursa-EWWTP), Turkey through their uptake of heavy metal/ element and their bioaccumulation factor (BAF) and translocation factor (TF) were investigated and assessed. It is important to determine of role of plant species that were already naturally established in lagoons before preparing an experiment design belong to on-site phyto-reclamation of sludges. Chenopodium album L. arc a plant community that occur naturally in the sewage sludge lagoons in Bursa East WWTP (Bursa-EWWTP), Turkey. Firstly, plant materials from all lagoons were collected for chemical analysis. A total of 15 elements including heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Ag, Sb, Al, As, Sn) and trace elements (Mn, Se, Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, B) were measured using ICP-OES emission spectrometer. 7 metals / elements [arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), silver (Ag), tin (Sn) and selenium (Se)] was below the limit value. The concentrations of Aluminum (Al), Boron (B), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) in leaves, stems and roots of Chenopodium album were determined. The metals deposition in the C. album' tissues (roots, stems and leaves) was significant high level. Cu accumulation in Chenopodium album was lower than other examined elements and metals, while Fe, Zn, Cr and Mn deposition were quite high generally in all lagoons. This data was consistent with BAF values of Fe, Zn and Mn in Chenopodium album. The high TF value supported that Chenopodium album is a fast growing species characterized by high biomass production. At the same time, these results gave us insight into the mobility of metals and elements in lagoons via bioaccumulation capacity of C. album. Our findings made a significant contribution to the experimental design to be formed in the improvement of these sewage sludge lagoons.