Chapter 18
A Water Hyacinth Harvester
Md Redzuan Zoolfakar and Ismail Ibrahim Chacha
Abstract Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a free-floating plant, which grows
up to three feet in height. It has thick, waxy, rounded, glossy leaves, which rise well
above the water surface on stalks. Water hyacinth is among the major problems
currently facing lake Victoria which is the second-largest freshwater lake in the
world by area and directly supports a population of more than 40 million East Africa’s
(Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) inhabitants. In addition to that, the lake is source of
the river Nile. Navigation, eco system, fishing industry, tourism, crop production, and
livestock keeping are among the socio-economic impacts resulting from invasion of
water hyacinth on lake Victoria. In this paper, a manual water hyacinth harvester is
constructed, tested, and analysis.
Keywords Water hyacinth · Water weed · Water hyacinth harvester · Lake
Victoria · Eichhornia crassipes
18.1 Introduction
Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area and supports
a population of more than 40 million East Africa’s (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda)
inhabitants. Furthermore, it is the source of river Nile and covers an area of 26,828
square miles (69,484 square kilometers) and has a depth of 270 feet (82 meters).
In addition, lake Victoria has more than 200 species of fish including tilapia and
Nile perch which are the most economically salient [1]. Lake Victoria extends over
412 km from North to South, between latitude 0°30’N and 3°12’S, 355 km from
West to East between longitudes 31°37’ and 34°53’E. It is situated at an altitude
of 1,134 meters above the sea level, and has a volume of 2,760 km
3 [2]. The lake
M. R. Zoolfakar (B) · I. I. Chacha
Marine and Electrical Engineering Technology, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian
Institute of Marine Engineering Technology, Lumut, Malaysia
e-mail: redzuan@unikl.edu.my
I. I. Chacha
e-mail: ismaelchacha@yahoo.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Ismail et al. (eds.), Advanced Engineering for Processes and Technologies II,
Advanced Structured Materials 147,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67307-9_18
193
A Water Hyacinth Harvester
Md Redzuan Zoolfakar and Ismail Ibrahim Chacha
Abstract Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a free-floating plant, which grows
up to three feet in height. It has thick, waxy, rounded, glossy leaves, which rise well
above the water surface on stalks. Water hyacinth is among the major problems
currently facing lake Victoria which is the second-largest freshwater lake in the
world by area and directly supports a population of more than 40 million East Africa’s
(Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) inhabitants. In addition to that, the lake is source of
the river Nile. Navigation, eco system, fishing industry, tourism, crop production, and
livestock keeping are among the socio-economic impacts resulting from invasion of
water hyacinth on lake Victoria. In this paper, a manual water hyacinth harvester is
constructed, tested, and analysis.
Keywords Water hyacinth · Water weed · Water hyacinth harvester · Lake
Victoria · Eichhornia crassipes
18.1 Introduction
Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area and supports
a population of more than 40 million East Africa’s (Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda)
inhabitants. Furthermore, it is the source of river Nile and covers an area of 26,828
square miles (69,484 square kilometers) and has a depth of 270 feet (82 meters).
In addition, lake Victoria has more than 200 species of fish including tilapia and
Nile perch which are the most economically salient [1]. Lake Victoria extends over
412 km from North to South, between latitude 0°30’N and 3°12’S, 355 km from
West to East between longitudes 31°37’ and 34°53’E. It is situated at an altitude
of 1,134 meters above the sea level, and has a volume of 2,760 km
3 [2]. The lake
M. R. Zoolfakar (B) · I. I. Chacha
Marine and Electrical Engineering Technology, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian
Institute of Marine Engineering Technology, Lumut, Malaysia
e-mail: redzuan@unikl.edu.my
I. I. Chacha
e-mail: ismaelchacha@yahoo.com
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Ismail et al. (eds.), Advanced Engineering for Processes and Technologies II,
Advanced Structured Materials 147,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67307-9_18
193