A method and means for application of wastewater to plants for improved wastewater treatment having an overhead distribution system for application of wastewater to plants. Purification of agricultural, commercial, domestic, mining and industrial liquid wastes by passage of said wastes through a shallow basin, pond, tank or the like covered with water or other species of Pontederiaceae, e.g. Pontederia spp., in particular, and other species cultured in a hydroponic mode in conjunction with or separately from Pontederiaceae, is accomplished by distribution of recycled liquid waste onto leaves and stems of the plants by spraying, sprinkling, splashing or the like. Depending on the quality and quantity of the wastewater, appropriate application rates, either intermittently or continuously, are utilized to effect positive contact of said liquid waste with living biota attached upon plants roots to attain greater treatment effectiveness and efficiency; to maintain aerobiosis in the root zone; and to, under a continuous application mode, exploit plants leaves as solid substrate for biofilm attachment so as to fashion a living filter that further improves system effectiveness, efficiency and cost worthiness.
A process for effectively remediating soils contaminated with individual or mixture of metal ions is described. The process involves utilizing plants of the genus Pelargonium, particularly Pelargonium sp., to hyperaccumulate metal ions in their roots and shoots. These plants when grown on soils, which contain one or more of the metal ions, individually or in a complex mixture, will uptake the metal ions through their roots and translocate them to the shoots. This process thereby removes the metal ions from the soil. The harvested shoot and root biomass can be used for extraction of essential aromatic oils, and the residual oil-extracted biomass will be available for extraction and recycling of the metals. The process also describes the use of the above said plant(s) for remediating land-farming sites of petroleum industries, which are generally contaminated with a mixture of metal ions and organic contaminants. The plant surpasses all the requirements of an ideal hyperaccumulator such as, robust growth habit, large shoot biomass (primarily leaves), effective root system, ability to survive and uptake of a wide array of metal ions, ability to retain senescing plant parts, in addition to potential economic returns in the form of essential aromatic oils from harvestable biomass.
7361268 - Waste treatment systems - Owned by Earth Works Institute (Santa Fe, NM) Ogden; Michael (Santa Fe, NM) Barclay; Leslie (South Dartmouth, MA)
Waste treatment systems and methods of using them to treat septage, domestic sludge or both are disclosed. Certain examples provided herein relate to waste treatment systems that include a plurality of stages, such as, for example, a plurality of ecosystems, configured to treat domestic sludge, septage or both.
A vascular plant aquaculture system and method are provided that include a water hyacinth enclosure for bioremediating wastewater and producing plant biomass for animal feed. A road and a flume are disposed about the water hyacinth enclosure for permitting access to the plants by a harvester, which is adapted to lift plants from the enclosure and deliver them to the flume, which carries purified water and the harvested plants for further processing. Such further processing may include chopping and vermicomposting.
An integrated aquaculture system and method are provided that include interrelated and symbiotic modules for adaptively bioremediating wastewater, producing food in the form of fish, and producing plant biomass for animal feed. The system is ecologically and economically self-sustaining. In one embodiment, the system contains a fish cultivation tank, an algal floway, and a water hyacinth system. Two modes of operation are contemplated: a recycle mode and a flow-through mode. The water hyacinth system includes harvesting, conveying, and chopping apparatus.
A process for removal of metal ions from soil and methods for effecting such removal are described. The process is based on the growth of crop and crop-related members of the plant family Brassicaceae in metal-containing soils. These particular plants will absorb metals into their roots making them not leachable from the soils or will absorb the metal into their roots and transfer them to the shoots which can be easily harvested.
