14.6 Environmental Implications
323
environment and recovery from the financial loss to the fisheries and associated
businesses. Algae blooms have been discussed in the previous chapters in this book.
One of the solutions is to harvest the abundant algae and aquatic plant and extract
biopolymers such as cellulose from them.
Industries which are affected by uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants and algae
include tourism, seafood, water transportation, aquatic farming, fishing and water
sports. Water hyacinth also affect activities on land by preventing access to water
as a result of blocking if irrigation channels and rivers. This blockage or reduced
access to water affects biodiversity as many animals on dry and wetlands time their
migrations, reproduction and other activities crucial to their survival in tune with the
aquatic cycle. For example, water turtles lay eggs on land and the timing is such that
the egg hatches just in time as the water level rises to carry the hatched turtles into
the water (Steen et al. 2012). If the water flow is interrupted and the turtles hatch
before the water level rises, the turtles have longer distances to reach water and may
die from dehydration. This results in a drastic drop in population as the older turtles
die out without offspring to maintain population balance.
Therefore industries gaining profits from extraction of biopolymers such as cellulose from these aquatic plants and algae is a bonus, since solving the problem they
create otherwise is a global priority.
14.6.6 Wastewater Treatment
Aquatic plants and algae have water remediating effect. Duckweeds in particular have
exceptional water remediating effect. They can remove heavy metals and microelements from water and retain them at high concentration within the plant up 100,000
times the concentration in the surrounding water. Water hyacinth can also remove
heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, chromium and copper from wastewater (Sarkar
et al. 2017; Hasan et al. 2007). In the studies reported mainly, the shoot of the water
hyacinth was utilized for wastewater treatment. This leaves the rest of the plant for
extraction of biopolymers. The water hyacinth biomass used for water treatment
can be recovered, and the biopolymer also extracted from them. The heavy metals
adsorbed unto the surfaces can be removed by dissolving in acid during extraction
while the cellulose is recovered.
14.7 Applications
In this section, we take a look at some significant application of cellulose, particularly
cellulose from aquatic plant. The applications reviewed here are primarily based on
those of current non-aquatic plant-based sources of cellulose. This provides some
perspectives on the potential market for aquatic sourced cellulose in such applications. The goal is therefore to explore the potential application in the industries
323
environment and recovery from the financial loss to the fisheries and associated
businesses. Algae blooms have been discussed in the previous chapters in this book.
One of the solutions is to harvest the abundant algae and aquatic plant and extract
biopolymers such as cellulose from them.
Industries which are affected by uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants and algae
include tourism, seafood, water transportation, aquatic farming, fishing and water
sports. Water hyacinth also affect activities on land by preventing access to water
as a result of blocking if irrigation channels and rivers. This blockage or reduced
access to water affects biodiversity as many animals on dry and wetlands time their
migrations, reproduction and other activities crucial to their survival in tune with the
aquatic cycle. For example, water turtles lay eggs on land and the timing is such that
the egg hatches just in time as the water level rises to carry the hatched turtles into
the water (Steen et al. 2012). If the water flow is interrupted and the turtles hatch
before the water level rises, the turtles have longer distances to reach water and may
die from dehydration. This results in a drastic drop in population as the older turtles
die out without offspring to maintain population balance.
Therefore industries gaining profits from extraction of biopolymers such as cellulose from these aquatic plants and algae is a bonus, since solving the problem they
create otherwise is a global priority.
14.6.6 Wastewater Treatment
Aquatic plants and algae have water remediating effect. Duckweeds in particular have
exceptional water remediating effect. They can remove heavy metals and microelements from water and retain them at high concentration within the plant up 100,000
times the concentration in the surrounding water. Water hyacinth can also remove
heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, chromium and copper from wastewater (Sarkar
et al. 2017; Hasan et al. 2007). In the studies reported mainly, the shoot of the water
hyacinth was utilized for wastewater treatment. This leaves the rest of the plant for
extraction of biopolymers. The water hyacinth biomass used for water treatment
can be recovered, and the biopolymer also extracted from them. The heavy metals
adsorbed unto the surfaces can be removed by dissolving in acid during extraction
while the cellulose is recovered.
14.7 Applications
In this section, we take a look at some significant application of cellulose, particularly
cellulose from aquatic plant. The applications reviewed here are primarily based on
those of current non-aquatic plant-based sources of cellulose. This provides some
perspectives on the potential market for aquatic sourced cellulose in such applications. The goal is therefore to explore the potential application in the industries