Chapter 11
Toxic Metals in Industrial Wastewaters
and Phytoremediation Using Aquatic
Macrophytes for Environmental Pollution
Control: An Eco-Remedial Approach
Mansi Rastogi and Meenakshi Nandal
Abstract Toxic pollutants contaminate water by discharging wastewater generated
through municipal, industrial, and landfill site waste, etc. It is emerging as a
worldwide problem as it enormously affects human, fauna, and flora health of
receiving water. During last few decades, the exponential population growth, productivity variation and consumption rates, and resources exploitation along with
rapid industrial and technical development are seen as major contributors that
accompany water pollution. Wastewater treatment has been a problem for mankind
since the discovery of additional environmental problems caused by wastes discharge into surface waters was done. Though control and prevention technologies
are being applied to most of these industrial and municipal sources and there is
availability of a wide range of wastewater treatment technologies for restoring and
maintaining the biological, chemical, and physical quality of wastewaters, still there
is a staggering amount of these agents released into the environment. Another major
proven threat to water is heavy metal toxicity with several associated health risks.
Although they do not play any big biological role, their trace present in certain form
can harm the human body and its proper functioning. This chapter discusses
wastewater characteristics, toxic metals added to water, the role of plants in
constructed wetlands in removal of various pollutants to remediate the wastewaters
from various sources, and constraints and future of constructed wetland as a cleanup
technique in wastewater remediation.
Keywords Wastewater · Pollution · Treatment · Constructed wetlands ·
Remediation
M. Rastogi (*) · M. Nandal
Department of Environmental Sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana,
India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_11
257
Toxic Metals in Industrial Wastewaters
and Phytoremediation Using Aquatic
Macrophytes for Environmental Pollution
Control: An Eco-Remedial Approach
Mansi Rastogi and Meenakshi Nandal
Abstract Toxic pollutants contaminate water by discharging wastewater generated
through municipal, industrial, and landfill site waste, etc. It is emerging as a
worldwide problem as it enormously affects human, fauna, and flora health of
receiving water. During last few decades, the exponential population growth, productivity variation and consumption rates, and resources exploitation along with
rapid industrial and technical development are seen as major contributors that
accompany water pollution. Wastewater treatment has been a problem for mankind
since the discovery of additional environmental problems caused by wastes discharge into surface waters was done. Though control and prevention technologies
are being applied to most of these industrial and municipal sources and there is
availability of a wide range of wastewater treatment technologies for restoring and
maintaining the biological, chemical, and physical quality of wastewaters, still there
is a staggering amount of these agents released into the environment. Another major
proven threat to water is heavy metal toxicity with several associated health risks.
Although they do not play any big biological role, their trace present in certain form
can harm the human body and its proper functioning. This chapter discusses
wastewater characteristics, toxic metals added to water, the role of plants in
constructed wetlands in removal of various pollutants to remediate the wastewaters
from various sources, and constraints and future of constructed wetland as a cleanup
technique in wastewater remediation.
Keywords Wastewater · Pollution · Treatment · Constructed wetlands ·
Remediation
M. Rastogi (*) · M. Nandal
Department of Environmental Sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana,
India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
R. N. Bharagava, G. Saxena (eds.), Bioremediation of Industrial Waste for
Environmental Safety, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3426-9_11
257